Assisting is Not Arresting

[email protected]2013-02-21T12:18:59+00:00

So Dan Tan is now helping authorities with the investigation. A press release from the Singaporean Police announced a few hours ago, “Dan Tan Seet Eng, a Singaporean who has been named in reports so far, is currently assisting Singapore authorities in their investigations.” Fair play.  This is a good start.  Months late.  But fair enough someone in Singapore, after immense international pressure, has stepped up to the mark and started a process that should have been done a long time ago. Here...

The Red Flags of Malarkey

[email protected]2013-02-18T20:20:44+00:00

In life, there are certain phrases that mean the exact opposite to their stated meaning. For example, the term “world-class” usually means that something is parochial, petty and provincial. You do not see signs in Paris or Rome advertising “world-class” projects, but you do in just about every small-town across the globe. “Centre of excellence” (mediocre and deeply unoriginal) is another term, but the best is when someone looks you in the eye and says, “I am...

A Quick Primer

[email protected]2013-02-18T06:01:57+00:00

There is an international match fixer living in Singapore who has, according to numerous different European police agencies helped fix hundreds of football matches around the world. Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for him. The Singaporean government has responded by giving them, FIFA, European police investigators and the international sporting community the finger. They have given the finger in true-Singaporean fashion – lots of flabby excuses and illogical media statements – but basically they have told Interpol/FIFA where it...

Breaking Stories and the Singapore Media

[email protected]2013-02-11T20:39:13+00:00

To start – I broke the story. I have been stating publicly since September 2008 that there is a group of Asian based match-fixers who travel the world arranging football matches with local criminals. For regular readers of this blog or my book The Fix, this is obvious. But in a week filled with vindication and support after the Europol press conference, there is a strain in the media of a very small number of journalists who...

It Ain’t Complicated!

[email protected]2013-02-08T20:41:23+00:00

Anyone who tells you that match-fixing is complicated to solve is either ignorant or lying. Following the Europol press conference and the media hype around it – let us analyse the current fixing situation in international football: It is very, very simple. Let us take out ‘football’ for the moment and imagine that we are speaking about bank robberies. There is a gang that is going around the world and robbing banks. They have stolen money from at least 680 banks...

Europol Press Conference is a Huge, New Story

[email protected]2013-02-06T20:43:56+00:00

Stay Tuned – I will be releasing fresh revelations later this week. However, for now, here is a quick fact sheet for people interested in the story developing around the Europol press conference on Monday of this week. At the conference, police investigators announced that they had over 400-suspects and over 680 suspicious matches. Most journalists have played the story straight and simply announced these findings, however, there has been a strain in the media that is trying frantically to downplay...

The Alleged Poster Child of Fixing

[email protected]2013-02-05T20:45:12+00:00

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Here is a brief outline on the activities of Dan Tan. The unmentioned man at the centre of yesterday’s Europol press conference. You are welcome to use the material, but please do cite me and my newspaper the Ottawa Citizen. All good wishes, Declan Dan Tan has a very comfortable life. He lives in a modern condominium in a rich neighbourhood of Singapore. He drives late-model luxury cars and, reportedly, has a personal net worth of more...

Another ‘I Told You So’ Moment

[email protected]2013-02-04T20:46:31+00:00

Europol Press Conference on Match-Fixing First, the good news. This is good news! Forget the ‘black day for European Football’ comments. Fixing and corruption has been going on in football for a long time. Long before ‘The Fix’ revealed the existence of this network, these fixers have been working throughout the sport to destroy its credibility. Finally, there are serious, good police investigators taking a long, hard and critical look at the dark centre...

Europol press conference

[email protected]2013-02-03T12:49:25+00:00

In the room, there will be good police officers who have done excellent work. They should be commended. However, if an official does not specifically stand up and state that the Singaporean government must serve the international arrest warrant against Dan Tan, then they become part of the problem, not the solution. The networks that the police have identified in superb investigations is, for the most part, linked to Asian fixers. Dan Tan is the alleged leading figure of these...

Five Words to Sum Up the War Against Fixers

[email protected]2013-01-30T05:37:03+00:00

It is a farce, a bureaucratic cone of silence and it comes dangerously close to a cover-up. I write of Interpol’s ‘efforts’ to fight match-fixing. You see the articles all the time in the media – as Interpol holds yet another press conference to tout their efforts against fixing from ruining the beautiful game. I do not say these things lightly – but from my recent experiences with Interpol, this is a warning to the world’s press that they are being bamboozled...