The arrest of a Singaporean man by police in Malaysia on soccer match-fixing charges may be one of the most significant to date, according to the head of security at the sport’s governing body.
Rajendran Kurusamy, 51, was arrested three weeks after Malaysian police were given a photo and other details by FIFA officials. He’s been linked to match-fixing cases in Under-20 matches. The arrest comes as Wilson Raj Perumal, a Singaporean, and nine members of the same Finish team are accused of fixing games there.
“He’s potentially more significant than Perumal,” Chris Eaton said in a telephone interview from Singapore, adding Kurusamy has been working in “Europe and likely Central America, too, in my estimation.”
FIFA is investigating several games that officials suspect have been compromised by match-fixers, including Nigeria’s 4-1 victory over Argentina in an exhibition match on June 1. They’re also looking at a games between a team purporting to represent the West African state of Togo and Bahrain as well as matches games between Bulgaria and Estonia, and Bolivia and Latvia in Turkey, where all seven goals were scored from penalties.
FIFA set up an Early Warning System to detect suspicious betting patterns, which sparked the investigation into the Nigeria game. It’s also giving Interpol 20 million euros ($28.6 million) over 10 years to help tackle the problem. The groups are working on an anti-corruption center in Singapore.
“We’re seeing an explosion in the investigating and detection of match fixing,” Eaton said. “My estimation is this is because there’s more awareness of match-fixing and more recognition by police agencies to eradicate it.”
The size of the illegal gambling market is estimated to be worth $90 billion, according to the World Lottery Association, a lobbying group for state-backed lotteries.
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