Belize Approached By Match Fixers Prior To CONCACAF Gold Cup Game Against United States

The Belizean national team wasn't expected to push the United States national team to the brink of defeat but most fans of soccer thought the upstarts would be somewhat more competitive than they were in a 6-1 Gold Cup defeat earlier this week.

While Belize certainly struggled in the match - surrendering a first half hat trick to U.S. striker Chris Wondolowski - multiple reports indicate that certain Belizean players were approached by match fixers prior to the Gold Cup showdown. One of those players according to 7 News Belize was defender Ian Gaynair.

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The biggest news coming out of Portland is that an attempt has been made to try and involve Belizean Players Woodrow West and Ian Gaynair in Match fixing, that is he try to get them to throw the game so the US would win.

The man first met them in Guatemala, attempted to befriend them, and then called them again in Portland where he met them at a mall near to the hotel

Gaynair explained the situation to reporters, indicating that he felt really uncomfortable around the fixer because he knew if he did anything wrong, a lifetime ban could come from the game of soccer.

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"He started talking that we don't really stand a chance to beat the U.S, so he wanted us to promise him that we would lose the game and that he would give us a large amount of money to change our lives in Belize and to help our families," Gaynair said. "I felt really uncomfortable just to be around the guy because I was already aware about the 'match fixing' and I know that I could get banned for life."

Belizean goalkeeper Woodrow West told Yahoo Sports that each player approached by the fixer made it known that no one would accept any money to throw the match because the team was strictly in the tournament to represent their home country in an honorable way.

"I made him understand that we're not into taking money from him or anything like that," West said. "We're here for our country."

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According to ESPN's Jorge Ramos, multiple players were offered upwards of €10,000 or $13,000 even though the team wasn't expected to win the match against the USMNT team anyway.

Belize will take on Costa Rica in their next Gold Cup match on Saturday, July 13^th at 6:00pm, EST. The game will be played at Rio Tinto stadium in Sandy, Utah.