Nadi Football Association president Navaneeda Gounder has slammed rumours that their game against Suva was fixed.

Following their 3-0 loss to Suva on Thursday, Nadi Football Association of British Columbia, Canada president Omar Khan has accused Nadi of match fixing to deny Lautoka from a semifinal berth.

Gounder said they did not fix any game and that his players were only playing with caution which cost them the match.

“A few of our players Samuela Drudru, Napolioni Qasevakatini, Lekima Gonerau and Ame Vutuni were not available,” Gounder said.

“We did not field them because we did not want to risk them getting a red car. Our players played with caution because they didn’t want to get injured.

“We made a gamble and we took it and that cost us but we did not match fix any game.

“Our former sponsor Shop N Save, the managing director Rattan Deo is the president for Lautoka Football, he has always supported Nadi so why would we do that to him?”

Jacks Nadi’s 3-0 loss to Suva still put them through to the semifinal playoffs where they face Labasa which Gounder said will be a tough but important game for them.

“This is a very crucial game for us especially after the loss on Thursday. We have had to go back to the drawing board and look at what went wrong,” he said.

“We will most likely be fielding the same team and may opt for a few changes but the boys all know what they have to do to win.”

Nadi play Labasa in the first semifinal at 5pm while Ba and defending champions Suva play the second semifinal at 7pm at Govind Park, Ba.

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