In what may be one of the biggest breakthroughs yet in the global fight against match-fixing, police in Singapore have arrested 14 people, one of them believed to be Dan Tan, alleged head of a ring implicated in hundreds of crooked contests, including European Champions League and World Cup qualifying games.
“Police confirm that the suspected leader and several other individuals who are the subject of ongoing investigations in other jurisdictions for match-fixing activities were among the persons arrested,” Singapore police said in a statement.
Authorities did not name any of those detained — 12 men and two women aged 38 to 60, all Singaporean nationals — but The Associated Press quoted an unidentified police official as saying Mr Tan was among five who were held. Nine reportedly were released on bail. Singapore’s Straits Times and New Paper, the latter in particular having closely followed the case, both said Dan Tan was among those arrested but did not give sources.
Earlier this year, police in Europe announced they had uncovered evidence that match-fixing networks believed to be based in Singapore were responsible for rigging, or trying to rig, 680 local, league and international matches in numerous countries between 2008 and 2011. In papers filed before a court in Cremona, Italian investigators alleged that Tan Seet Eng — Mr Tan’s full name — was head of the network.
In May, Singapore police said Mr Tan was “assisting investigators,” according to the South China Morning Post. In the same month, he was charged in Hungary over the alleged manipulation of 32 games in three countries. That development came after Europol in February said a five-nation probe had identified 380 suspicious matches targeted by Singapore-based betting cartels, whose illegal activities stretched to players, referees and officials worldwide.
Mr Tan has vigorously protested his innocence. But under mounting international pressure, Singapore police had dispatched officers to be briefed by their Interpol counterparts in Europe and called in Mr Tan for questioning prior to the arrests.
“It’s becoming clear that they examined the evidence compiled by European investigators, returned to Singapore and set up their own investigation and surveillance,” Singapore-based journalist and author Neil Humphreys told The Independent.
Ron Noble, secretary-general of Interpol, termed the arrests “an important step in cracking down on an international match-fixing syndicate,” adding, “No person should doubt Singapore’s commitment to fighting match-fixing.”
But Humphreys added a note of caution. “This is a promising beginning, but the end is still nowhere in sight. The match-fixing hydra remains. A big ugly head appears to have been chopped off, but only one.”
RelatedPosts
