Scandalous start to season
Two Sarawak players and bookie remanded in match-fixing probe
KUCHING: Malaysian football have been hit with their first match-fixing scandal barely a month into the new season.
Two Sarawak footballers had been given the remand orders to facilitate investigation yesterday.
The two players, aged 28 and 30, were remanded together with another man believed to be a bookie for six days in a match-fixing probe in the 3-2 defeat of Sarawak against Felcra FC in the Premier League match last Saturday.
Magistrate Portia Tham Ong Leng granted the remand order to the three individuals until Feb 21 after they were produced in court by the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday.
The three were detained by MACC between 7.15pm and 7.55pm on Wednesday.
The case is being investigated under Section 16(a) of the MACC Act 2009 for soliciting, which carries an imprisonment term up to seven years or a fine up to RM50,000, upon conviction.
The players will be placed under MACC custody throughout the remand order, while the bookie will be put under police custody.
The three suspects were not represented by any lawyer.
The Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) immediately launched an internal probe following their Premier League home defeat at the State Stadium on Feb 10.
President Datuk Posa Majais had instructed team manager Wahab Abdul Rahim to lead the investigation.
In a statement on Sunday evening, FAS claimed they had received reports that their players were involved in football corruption following the defeat.
Sarawak led 2-0 through goals from Bobby Gonzales and Mateo Roskam before Anselmo Arruda da Silva, of popularly known as Casagrande netted a late hattrick to earn Felcra the win.
Sarawak are sixth in the 12-team Premier League table with four points after three matches. Felcra, meanwhile, lie fourth with five points.