Singapore. An Indonesian man was jailed for 30 months on Tuesday for attempting to fix a soccer match at the recent Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

Nasiruddin, 52, conspired with two others to give East Timor soccer official Orlando Marques Henriques Mendes $15,000 to ensure they would lose to Malaysia on May 30, Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a statement.

Malaysia won the fixture 1-0 and both sides exited at the group stages of the tournament won by Thailand last month.

The CPIB also said Mendes was charged with offering bribes to players on the East Timor team.

Match-fixing in soccer matches has been rife in Asia for years with fixers targeting low-paid players in various leagues across the region.

Singapore has been frequently hit by the problem and in 2013 European anti-crime agency Europol said hundreds of football matches had been fixed in a global betting scam run from the wealthy citystate.

The CPIB, which has helped with a number of match-fixing arrests since, said they would continue the fight against the problem.

“Singapore adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption, and match-fixing of any form is not condoned in Singapore,” said the CPIB.

“The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau will not hesitate to take action against any party involved in match-fixing-related activities.”

Reuters

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Singapore. Myanmar’s Southeast Asian team might be one of the smallest in world football but what they lack in height they more than make up in energy and commitment.

Playing their fifth game in 12 days, they hung tough through long periods of pressure before beating Vietnam 2-1 at Singapore’s National Stadium on Saturday to move through to the gold medal match.

They await the winners of Saturday’s second semi-final between hot favourites Thailand and Indonesia in Monday’s final where they will aim for their first football gold at the biennial multi-sports games in 42 years.

Little was expected from the under-23 side who were missing key players held back for the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign and also competing at the under-20 World Cup in New Zealand but their fighting spirit has captivated a nation.

Adopting the slogan “No Stars, No Problem” they went unbeaten through the group stages with impressive victories over Indonesia and hosts Singapore, but faced their toughest task on Saturday.

They soaked up a lot of pressure before wide midfielder Aung Si Thu calmly stroked home a 39th minute penalty after Vietnam defender Ho Ngoc Thang stuck his elbow out to block a free-kick.

Vietnam continued to press and were guilty of wasting several chances before Vo Huy Toan finally levelled with 20 minutes to go after the ball kindly fell on his path in front of an unguarded net.

But plucky Myanmar, with their tallest outfield player only 1.71 metres tall and the goalkeeper Phyo Kyaw Zin not much bigger, got the lead back in the 78th minute when captain Tun Nay Lin’s long-range effort looped off defender Nguyen Than Hien into the net.

Reuters

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Singapore. Host Singapore limped out of the Southeast Asian Games football tournament on Thursday after slumping to a 1-0 loss to Indonesia, who completed the semifinal lineup.

Midfielder Evan Dimas scored the only goal in the 46th minute as the country banned by world governing body FIFA last month for government interference in its football association kept up its bid for a first football gold since 1991.

The under-23 side was only allowed to compete in Singapore as the ban had come after the tournament had started.

Singapore needed to win the fixture to leapfrog its opponent and finish second in the pool behind already qualified Myanmar, but its long-ball game plan was easily nullified on the Astroturf at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The host’s slim hopes were all but ended when left-back Ho Wai Loon was shown a second yellow card in the 65th minute for a mistimed challenge.

Indonesia next faces hot favorite Thailand in the last four at the 55,000-seat National Stadium on Saturday after Myanmar takes on Vietnam earlier in the day at the same venue.

The Thais have won nine of the last 11 football golds at the biennial games for the 11-nation bloc and breezed through Group B with five wins from five after beating Vietnam 3-1 in the battle for top spot on Wednesday.

Reuters

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Singapore. While the tourists bask on Bali’s famed beaches, Indonesian long jumper Maria Natalia Londa plows through her training sessions on the white sand hoping the hard work will take her to another picturesque seaside spot.

The 24-year-old Balinese jumper is desperate to make it to Rio de Janeiro and compete at the 2016 Olympics.

Londa knows she can qualify by capturing the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games record of six meters and 71 centimeters when she defends her title in Singapore next month, the distance one centimeter longer than the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying mark.

Two years ago in Myanmar, she landed a jump of 6.39 meters to win SEA Games gold and last September, she leapt a personal best of 6.55 meters to win the Asian Games title in Incheon, South Korea.

It was Indonesia’s first athletics gold in the quadrennial event for 16 years.

The Olympic qualifying mark may seem a tall order but Londa believes it is within reach having focused her attentions on the discipline after relegating her triple jump responsibilities.

“Triple jump was the focus in the last SEA Games. Hopefully this year I can achieve my goal to break the long jump record,” she told Channel NewsAsia earlier this month. “Train harder, more discipline and pray; believe that I can qualify for next year’s Olympic.”

Londa is likely to face competition from Vietnamese jumper Thi Thu Thao Bui, who won silver at the Asian Games, and Filipina Marestella Torres, the current SEA Games record holder, at the National Stadium in Singapore on June 10.

Torres, 34, produced a jump of 6.53 meters to win a meet in Taiwan earlier this month.

Londa, who also won the SEA Games triple jump in Myanmar two years ago, is unlikely to be concerned. Her long-time coach I Ketut Pageh noticed the athlete’s steely determination from a young age.

“Maria was always at my training sessions,” the coach said of the then 10-year-old. “She was small, had a runny nose and a little distended. She caught my attention because she was at my training session every day right till the end.”

Ketut has steered his charge to all domestic long jump and triple jump titles after long hours spent honing skills on the tourist-filled beaches in Kuta.

Her coach believes his athlete is coming into her pomp and that the Olympics are a realistic goal.

“Maria is now reaching her maximum performance, beginning to peak. But we can still improve her performance if the athlete is motivated to be a champion. I believe Maria still has that in her.”

Reuters

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Kuala Lumpur. The Asian Football Confederation suspended its general secretary Alex Soosay on Wednesday following allegations he asked another official to hide some documents during a corruption probe.

The AFC released a brief statement saying the Malaysian had been suspended while media claims relating to a case dating back three years are investigated.

“Asian Football Confederation General Secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay was today suspended by the AFC following media allegations which have recently surfaced concerning a case in 2012,” the statement said.

The AFC said deputy general secretary Windsor John would replace Soosay on an interim basis while the investigation was carried out.

Soosay was accused by a Malaysian newspaper of ordering some documents to be hidden during a review of AFC practices under former president Mohamed bin Hammam, who was later banned for life by FIFA for corruption.

Soosay has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and told Reuters earlier this month that he believed the case was closed. But the AFC said on Wednesday that he had been suspended after they had seen and verified a video that was part of the investigation.

“A video statement conducted as part of a FIFA investigation was passed to media recently and the AFC has now been able to verify its authenticity,” the AFC said.

The allegations first surfaced last month when the Malay Mail newspaper published a report claiming Soosay had asked another AFC official to “protect me.”

The newspaper said Soosay had made the request to AFC financial director Bryan Kuan Wee Hoong.

The Malay Mail said the video involved a conversation between Kuan and FIFA investigator Michael John Pride where the AFC official discussed a conversation he had with Soosay in 2012.

A former player, Soosay has held the position of AFC general secretary since 2008.

His role meant he worked closely with Qatari Bin Hammam, who was initially banned by soccer’s governing body for bribery ahead of the 2011 FIFA presidential elections in which he was standing against incumbent Sepp Blatter.

Bin Hammam eventually overturned the verdict after a lengthy court process only to be banned following a review of AFC accounts by FIFA who accused him of repeated violations of the ethics code during 2008-2011.

Reuters

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