FAM Wants Evidence Over Claims That Malaysia Is Hub For Match-Fixing In South East Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) urged anyone with evidence about match-fixing in the M-League to submit details to the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). FAM secretary-general Hamidin Mohd Amin when commenting on claims by Chris Eaton, an independent industry consultant and FIFA's former security chief, that Malaysia had overtaken Singapore as the hub for sports match-fixing in Southeast Asia following a crackdown in the city-state. "Malaysia is the epicentre of trade for Southeast Asia," Eaton was quoted by international news agency, AFP, as having said at an international conference on match-fixing organised by the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) in Singapore. He was quoted as having said Singapore had managed to break up some football match-fixing syndicates but some remained working in "close association" with syndicates in Malaysia. Hamidin said Eaton should be more professional in his approach by submitting proof to the responsible authorities for action. He said the FAM had already set up an Integrity Committee to monitor matches in the M-League and to curb match-fixing through FIFA's EWS (Early Warning System). "FAM always viewed such issues like match-fixing seriously and worked closely with FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). We are also working closely with the responsible authorities to channel credible information to carry out investigations. According to Hamidin, it was not the first but second time Eaton had made such comments, claiming there were high ranked officials involved in match-fixing back in 2012. "Following his claims, a meeting was held on March 5, 2012 between Eaton and former FAM secretary-general Azzuddin Ahmad. He was asked to furnish evidence to support his claims but he had failed. "Even his latest claims have no details, either from FIFA or AFC or any other local sources," he said. --BERNAMA