Malaysian ref charged with match-fixing in Singapore
SINGAPORE, May 31 — Two Malaysians were charged in a court here today with allegedly being involved in fixing a football match between Lions XII and Sarawak on May 22 at the Jalan Besar Stadium here.
Alternatively, former Kedah footballer S. Thanasegar, 38, is alleged to have aided referee Shokri Nor, 47, to meet a man named L. Selvarajan so that Shokri could receive a RM15,000 bribe to fix the result of the match.
Both men could face a jail term of not more than five years and a fine not exceeding S$100,000 (RM240,000), or both, if convicted.
Both were initially charged with accepting RM15,000 each as an inducement to fix the Lions XII vs Sarawak match, according to a report in The Star Online today.
The report said Shokri, who refereed last year's Malaysia Cup final between Negri Sembilan and Terengganu, is alleged to have conspired with Thanasegar in a hotel room in Penang on May 19 to fix the match. Although the plot was hatched in Penang, it was left to the Singapore authorities to nail the suspects.
Shokri was originally scheduled to referee the match but was replaced at the eleventh hour after officials were informed of the possibility of the match being compromised.
Shokri and Thanasegar were then arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau (CPIB).
The report said Shokri, a tourist policeman from Penang, had officiated matches in the M-League for the last 10 years while Thanasegar was one of the scores of players banned or banished after the nationwide bribery scandal in 1994-95 that rocked Malaysian football.
