By Andrew Warshaw
April 19 – Three Lebanese officials who were suddenly pulled out of an Asian Football Confederation game in Singapore for alleged match-fixing will go on trial in June, it was reported today.
The officials – FIFA-recognised referee Ali Sabbagh and assistants Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb – were charged with accepting sexual bribes from three women to fix the April 3 cup match between Tampines Rovers and East Bengal. Replacement officials were hastily brought in for the game, which was won 4-2 by East Bengal.
The three, who all deny the charges, face a maximum fine of S$100,000 and a five-year prison term if found guilty.
Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said before the three were arrested that it had acted on “prior information of match fixing”, heaping more unwanted spotlight on Lebanon whose authorities punished 24 players in February for allegedly helping rig international and regional matches.
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