Watch: Balzan’s Samir Arab opens up on 2016 match-fixing case on FIFPRO podcast

Balzan player Samir Arab was the second guest on the newly-launched FIFPRO’s Footballers Unfiltered podcast, hosted by former England international Joe Hart.

The podcast, launched by the International Federation of Professional Footballers, enables current and former footballers to have open conversations about the rarely seen side of the profession.

In this chat, Arab was joined by FIFPRO Legal Director Roy Vermeer.

Arab spoke about the 2016 incident when he refused to fix a match and despite cooperating with police to bring the criminals to justice, he was slapped with a two-year ban by football authorities.

“I remember being in front of the investigator. I asked if I could testify anonymously in court and he told me no,” said Arab. “No-one could guarantee my safety.”

“The initial person that approached me to fix a match testified in court that I rejected the approach. Without me, the court couldn’t give the sentence they wanted to.”

Arab continued: “Pointing at him in court puts the player in an uncomfortable position. Today I have no problem speaking about it, but God knows what I may have done to myself or how I may have reacted if things didn’t go my way, for example, if I was sentenced. Suicidal thoughts come to your mind, so does leaving the country.”

To protect players in this position, FIFPRO launched the Red Button application in 2020, which allows footballers to report match-fixing approaches safely and anonymously to law enforcement and authorities in their country.

“I advocated for the Red Button application together with FIFPRO,” said Arab. “I was quite happy with it because associations like FIFPRO, even the Malta Football Players Association (MFPA), were of great help and it’s crucial for players to have associations that protect their rights and care about them.”

FIFPRO Legal Director Roy Vermeer added that, “There is quite a big problem with match-fixing in football. We did some studies a while ago and, for example, in Malta, around 15 percent of players had been approached.”