HELSINKI, July 19 – A Finnish court has sentenced a Singaporean man to two years in prison and gave nine soccer players suspended sentences after finding them guilty of match fixing.

The Lapland district court said Wilson Raj Perumal had contacted players and referees to fix matches.

“Perumal’s sentence was toughened by the fact that he had planned his actions and that he has acted as a member of international organised group doing betting scams,” the court said in a statement today.

The court said Perumal was part of a group that tried to fix matches played by the Rovaniemi club between June 2008 and February 2011. Perumal bribed seven Zambian and two Georgian players, it added.

Perumal paid players up to €20,000 (RM85,025) per match and received up to €50,000, in addition to some of the betting profits, each time the results were fixed.

The court said Perumal had cooperated with authorities. – Reuters