I am innocent: Ex-Ghana international Edusei denies guilty of match fixing

Ex Ghana international Mark Edusei has denied being guilty of the match fixing scandal his former club, Bari got involved in 2009.

A ban of three years and six months was originally imposed by the Italian Football Federation on him and was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sports in May, thus extending it globally.

He was found guilty of helping fix a Serie B match on 23 May 2009, when his Bari side lost 3-2 to Salernitana,.

However Edusei has expressed that his hands a clean, because he was not even in Italy, the very day the said game was played.

'I never got myself involved in any match fixing, because I had travelled outside Italy the day this said match was played, so I couldn't have contributed in bringing the name of the game into disrepute," Edusei told Metro fm.

'The game was fixed by some of the old players in the team, but unfortunately, we were all charged and banned for wrong doing.

'During the time the Italian Football Federation invited us for hearing, I was in England, trying to secure a Visa, so I couldn't get back to Italy, since my passport wasn't with me then, so my lawyer represented me.

'I think my absence affected me and also because there were evidence to substantiate that the team was a victim of match fixing scandal, we were all suspended, irrespective of whether you were present or not.

'My lawyers will go for a review to overturn the decision, though I have retired from active football I would have to clear my name."

Mark Edusei began his career at Kumasi King Faisal, before he left abroad after a successful campaign with the U-17 team of Ghana, winning the 1991 FIFA U-17 Championship. He was part of the Ghana squad at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations.

The 37-year-old has played for several clubs including Al-Ahli, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Lecce, Cosenza, Sampdoria, Catania and Bellinzona.