Fifa uncovers match-fixing ahead of World Cup finals The South African Football Association admitted on Saturday that it had been "infiltrated" by Wilson Raj Perumal, the notorious match-fixer who was at the centre of a special investigation by Telegraph Sport last year. A report by world football's governing body Fifa into matches played in the weeks before South Africa staged the World Cup finals suggests several friendlies involving the host nation were refereed by officials who had been bought by Perumal, who is in prison in Finland after being convicted of fixing matches on behalf of Asian betting syndicates. Fifa said South Africa's players were not under supicion. Instead, referees appointed by Perumal's Football4U company are believed to have manipulated the matches by awarding multiple penalties. South Africa's 5-0 victory against Guatemala in May 2010 involved three penalties given by Niger referee Ibrahim Chaibou, two of them clearly incorrect. Chaibou is being sought for questioning by Fifa for his handling of other suspicious games in Africa, Asia and South America. In South Africa's 2-1 win against Colombia the same month, which was overseen by a Kenyan referee, all three goals were scored from penalties. "The Fifa report finds compelling evidence," SAFA said in a statement. The full extent of the web of international crime is now exposed. Singaporean fixer Perumal was based for a period in London.