Don’t spare players if guilty of match-fixing

I REFER to your sports article titled “Courting trouble” ( The Star, Feb 14).

We have punished match-fixers in football whether they were players, referees or officials in the worst match-fixing scandal in the 1993-1994 season, resulting in the Football Association of Malaysia to ban 84 players nationwide in 1994.

Now it is alleged that two independent shuttlers were involved in match-fixing, one a junior and another a former Thomas Cup player in his 30s.

It is alleged that the players were offered an estimated RM20,000 by bookies to manipulate the outcome of the match in an international tournament.

Personal integrity of the players and match officials must be of the highest standards. There must be no compromise on unethical practices in sports.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) said the World Badminton Federation (BWF) conducted an investigation into the two “suspected” players who will attend a hearing in Singapore later this month.

If any of them are found guilty, they should be prosecuted, shamed and banned for life and any earnings must be confiscated.

BAM as the guardian of badminton in the country needs to vet thoroughly all the players’ background, make them declare their assets and keep tabs on the players’ lifestyle.

BAM, the Malaysian AntiCorruption Agency (MACC) and the police need whistleblowers to help root out this menace if found to be true.

BAM must leave no stone unturned in its bid to eradicate match-fixing in the game before it becomes a full-blown problem. It needs to adopt preventive measures and work with the police in each state.

It has to educate players, match officials and referees on how to identify potential match-fixers and how to deal with those who approach them to fix matches.

C. SATHASIVAM SITHERAVELLU Seremban