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S’pore restored reputation by nabbing Dan Tan: Eaton

SINGAPORE — He once described Singapore as an “academy for match-fixers”, but law enforcement veteran Chris Eaton now says the Singapore government must be applauded for restoring the country’s reputation in the international community by snuffing out a global match-fixing syndicate headed by Singaporean Dan Tan.

Chris Eaton praised the Singapore Government for taking swift and decisive action against match-fixing. Photo: Stanley Ho

Chris Eaton praised the Singapore Government for taking swift and decisive action against match-fixing. Photo: Stanley Ho

SINGAPORE — He once described Singapore as an “academy for match-fixers”, but law enforcement veteran Chris Eaton now says the Singapore government must be applauded for restoring the country’s reputation in the international community by snuffing out a global match-fixing syndicate headed by Singaporean Dan Tan.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Lottery Summit at Marina Bay Sands, the former head of Interpol’s international corruption investigations believes the match-fixing threat has now moved from Singapore to Malaysia.

Described by Interpol at the time as “the leader of the world’s most notorious match-fixing syndicate”, the 52-year-old Tan has been in detention since October 2013 under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act. He was accused of collaborating with Wilson Raj Perumal in fixing more than 150 matches in countries including Italy, Hungary, Finland and Nigeria.

Perumal, who was arrested in Finland in 2011 for attempting to fix matches, is now in Hungary assisting in investigations under a witness protection programme.

“It took the Singapore government two years to respond to the international calls to (prosecute) Dan Tan following the arrest of (Tan’s associate) Wilson Raj Perumal in Finland. During that period of time, the match-fixing cartel Perumal was part of, continued to operate,” said Eaton, who recently retired as executive director for Sports Integrity at the not-for-profit International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS) and is now an independent adviser on sports integrity.

“But when the Singapore government made the decision, they took swift and decisive action. And they need to be applauded because they have restored Singapore’s reputation by doing that.

“What was being said at the time before the Singapore government acted was that it wasn’t a Singapore problem because the crime was committed abroad. And that’s very insulting to the international community.

“But, for taking action against Singapore nationals who were creating enormous harm in sport, particularly football, the Singapore government has restored that respect.”

However, even though ring leader Tan is behind bars, Eaton stopped short of saying Singapore has got rid of the threat of match-fixing.

“I wouldn’t say that the match-fixing threat is 100 per cent gone in Singapore, but it’s certainly going if not gone,” said the 64-year-old who spoke on Monday (Nov 7) on the panel of the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS), which monitors sport betting activities for irregular betting patterns in its effort to combat corruption in sports.

“I’d be very surprised if (the match-fixers) have not moved elsewhere to Malaysia and other neighbouring countries.

“My understanding is that these guys are highly mobile and they move around South-east Asia and other parts of the world. And they continue to operate. There is always a replacement. Until you fix the systemic problem, the institutional problem, they’ll always reinvent themselves somewhere else.

“I’d suggest to you that Malaysia has an issue, certainly, and South Korea is another country where there is an awful lot of match fixing in all sorts of sports.”

Turning the spotlight on South-east Asia, which he estimates makes up 70 per cent of the global sport betting market, Eaton said sport betting in the region is rampant, illegal and under-regulated.

And until the region’s authorities fix this “mess of sport traders who operate without any strong regulations, they’ll always take the business away from the legitimate government approved organisations like the Singapore Pools”.

“My view is that the legitimate, licensed, private or public organisations that are operating the pools should be the ones we trust to operate sport betting at a national level,” he said.

“It’s a three-part movement: You must first legalise sport betting because it’s a globally popular activity, particularly in South-east Asia. To prohibit it is silly. Prohibiting sport betting creates enormous problems. It puts it in the darkness, makes it opaque and hard to see.

“Secondly, regulate it strongly. Make information flow to law enforcement agencies easier and swifter like in the banking industry.

“Thirdly, join up with other countries to smash illegal operators. Because if you don’t, they will always offer a cheaper and more attractive product to punters and take the businesses away from legal operators.

“Sport betting is a very popular activity here (in South-east Asia). It’ll be popular regardless of whether betting shops are legal, illegal or under-regulated. So my advice is: Don’t try and stop it being popular, make it properly controlled, and make sure the illegal operators are taken out of the game.”

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