Singapore discovered match-fixing at SEA Games 28

Singapore's Corrupt Practices Prevention Bureau (CPIB) has arrested a group of people who were planning to fix the score in Group B, where the U23 Vietnam team was present.

Thailand vs Laos is one of two early matches in Group B at SEA Games 28. Photo: Reuters.

While the 65th FIFA Congress is engulfed in a corruption scandal, a match-fixing case has been uncovered in Southeast Asia. According to Reuters, Singapore authorities announced on Friday, May 29, the arrest of a Singaporean and a group of accomplices who were planning to fix the men's football match at the 28th SEA Games.

The Corrupt Practices Prevention Bureau (CPIB) of Singapore has not revealed the identities of those arrested but said some members of the team who attended the event had helped uncover the case.

"Some members of the Timor Leste team assisted us in our investigation," the CPIB statement said.

The arrests began on the evening of May 28 and ended on the morning of May 29. The Singapore government said it had sources linking match-fixing to SEA Games matches and conducted surveillance before taking action.

The first match of the U23 Timor Leste team is against U23 Malaysia on Saturday, May 30. The SEA Games Organizing Committee decided to hold the match at 7:30 p.m. as usual.

"We have worked with the Timor-Leste Olympic Committee (NOC) as well as consulted with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), and the Singapore SEA Games Organizing Committee (SINGSOC). We have decided that the match will proceed as normal. We will work closely with the Singapore authorities to uncover any bad intentions," the 28th SEA Games Organizing Committee said.

Group B has six teams including U23 Vietnam, U23 Timor Leste, U23 Malaysia, U23 Laos, U23 Brunei and U23 Thailand. The first two matches on May 29 ended with the same score of 6-0 in favor of U23 Vietnam and U23 Thailand against U23 Brunei and U23 Laos.

U23 Vietnam will meet U23 Malaysia in the second match on June 2 and meet U23 Timor Leste in the fourth match on June 7.

According to VNE