The National Men’s Beach Football Team of Costa Rica is currently under investigation by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) after allegations of match rigging. Some of the allegations were brought up by Ramon Raya, who currently manages the Mexican National Beach Football Team.

Mr. Raya has been quite emphatic in his allegations of match rigging against the national teams of Costa Rica and Guatemala. According to Mr. Raya, a recent match between these two national teams gave strong indications that they were conspiring to fix the final score so that they could both advance in the qualifiers while leaving the Mexican national team in an uncomfortable situation. In the end, Costa Rica won the match 4-3; Mexico advanced in the tournament but Guatemala did not.

Costa Rica is one of the teams that have advanced to the semifinal round of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship 2015, which is being held in El Salvador. It so happens that Costa Rica and El Salvador have both made great strides in beach football over the last few years, and their two national teams are now in the semifinal rounds of the qualifiers that will lead them to the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which will be held later this year in Portugal.

Mr. Raya has stated that he is very upset at what transpired on the sand between Costa Rica and Guatemala; he is calling on the CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee to intervene, or else he will consider retirement from the world of beach football. An investigation was launched on the same night that the match took place.

In the past, Mexico and the United States were the only CONCACAF national teams to excel at beach football. These days, nations such as Costa Rica, El Salvador and various Caribbean islands are emerging in this field. Although match rigging or fixing is a notorious problem in the world of international football, it is quite rare within the beach football modality.

 

Source: Radio Columbia 98.7 FM