Winston Lee cautioned that the issue of match-fixing in football must be taken head-on from the onset or eradicating it could be impossible.
Talking at a press conference to declare the new joint venture between Asean Football Federation (AFF) countries and East Asia Football Federation (EAFF), Football Association of Singapore (FAS); General Secretary Winston Lee talked about the standing of match-fixing in Singapore and the district.
Winston Lee told Goal that, "We take a very serious view towards match-fixing.
It's a cancer on the game, and it's a global issue that needs to be tackled.
We were happy to receive the briefing from Japan Football Association (JFA) and see what other countries are doing."
"In Singapore we administer polygraph tests; players randomly receive them. We have not had any incidents in the last few years, but it's like a cancer.
It comes back if you're not careful. Those tests are not admissible in court, but they're used to further the investigation."
Japan Football Association vice president, Kohzo Tashima likewise made a case on the point of match-fixing as he pointed out that Japan and the AFF countries propose to work closely and expect to meet at Sao Paulo throughout the World Cup to further the plan before reconvening in Thailand later this year.
"We look at this partnership as a journey we'll take together.
In terms of meetings, it's not just the meeting, every year we plan to have four to six meetings."
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president, HRH Prince Abdullah Ahmad Shah who was also present at the gathering included that the recently formed joint venture with EAFF will go far in fighting the issue of match-fixing.
"The presentation [on match-fixing shown at the meeting] was an eye-opener on how Japan monitors match fixing. With the help of FIFA's early warning system, they will be able to handle this problem,” Prince Abdullah stated.
“They're not alone; Asean is very active in this. By having this collaboration it will help many countries to eradicate match fixing.
There are many ways to fix matches, but we should be able to control it," Prince Abdullah added.
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