Singapore busts would-be SEA Games match-fixers

Singapore busts would-be SEA Games match-fixers

SINGAPORE — Four men were charged with trying to fix a SEA Games football match on Saturday, local media reported.

The suspects included the manager of the Timor Leste football team and a Singaporean who had been jailed in 1997 for attempting to bribe footballers in the city-state's s professional football league.

Singaporean Rajendran Kurusamy, Moises Natalino de Jesus and Nasiruddin are accused of conspiring to pay S$15,000 (375,000 baht) to Timor Leste manager Orlando Marques Henriques Mendes to throw a match against Malaysia.

If convicted, the men could be jailed for up to five years and fined as much as S$100,000. They were not represented by lawyers and did not enter a plea.

Singapore has long had a reputation as a hub for match-fixing.

In 2013, police in Europe found evidence of Singapore-based match-fixing networks involved in crimes amounting to about US$10.9 million in betting profits and $2.7 million in bribes to 425 officials, players and criminals.

The SEA Games will be staged in Singapore from June 5-16.

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