Former Malaysian international jailed for match-fixing

Singapore: A former Malaysian international was jailed for two years on Thursday for attempting to bribe a referee to rig a soccer match involving a Singapore team in 2012.

Thana Segar S Sinnaiah pleaded guilty to working with Singaporean Selvarajan Letchuman to offer referee Shokri Nor a bribe of up to RM15,000 ($4,113) to ensure Singapore`s Lions XII beat Sarawak in a Malaysian Super League match in the city-state.

Thana Segar, 40, who failed to show for a pre-trial conference in 2012 when out on bail, could have faced a penalty of up to five years in jail and or a fine of S$100,000 ($73,584).

District Judge Siva Shanmugam said it was important to hand out a heavy sentence to ward off others from attempting such practices in Singapore, which is struggling to shake off its reputation as a global centre for match-fixing.

"The trans-national nature of the present offences also undermines our enforcement agencies` efforts to tackle the unfortunate perception that Singapore is a haven for such offences," he was quoted as saying by The Straits Times.