SINGAPORE (12 May 2011) – Singapore have been selected as the centre of operation for FIFA’s battle against match-fixing following the pledge of USD29 million over the next 10 years with international police agency Interpol.
The unit will be housed within the agency’s Singapore-based Global Complex, which will be ready in 2013 and where they will be responsible for training players, officials and referees to identify attempts to fix matches.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter signed an agreement with Interpol’s secretary-general Ronald Noble in Zurich this week.
“Fans will no longer go to football matches if they know they are fixed, and if that happens, everything that has been created in FIFA will count for nothing,” said Blatter.
Noble revealed that during last year’s World Cup in South Africa, Interpol conducted a month-long operation out of Malaysia, Singapore, China and Thailand which resulted in more than 5,000 arrests and the seizue of more than €16 million (USD22.8 million) cash seized.
“The scale of match-fixing has nothing to do with football played in Singapore, but the match-fixers in the region just happen to be Singapore citizens who engage in a global activity,” said FIFA’s head of security Chris Eaton to The New Paper.
This week, FIFA identified two Singaporeans – Wilson Raj Perumal and Anthony Santia Raj – as alleged key figures in the latest incidents of match-fixing.
“They [match-fixers] have had a free rein for too long. We’ve now identified over these last three months the true extent of criminal activity in match-fixing and now we’ve focused all our resources into stopping it,” said Eaton. “I think they’re in for a fight and they know it.”
In one highly publicized case, a 9 February double-header played in Antalya, Turkey – involving Latvia, Bolivia, Bulgaria and Estonia – all seven goals came from penalty kicks. FIFA have charged six match officials from Hungary and Bosnia.
Finland also became the focus in February when police arrested a second Singaporean businessman linked to match-fixing claims in the Finnish league and Asia.
Lead investigator Jouko Ikonen said the first players were convicted in court last week, and more cases would follow in June. Noble said increased media reporting of suspicious matches had prompted FIFA and Interpol to act.
“We needed to do something to make sure the public realizes that this is a problem that’s long-term,” the Interpol head said. “It’s a problem that’s going to require law enforcement to train those groups most likely to be targeted.”
