Jugjet Singh
HOCKEY has been rocked by allegations of corruption after it emerged that four, and possiblymore, national players have been fixing matches to settle gambling debts.
The players are apparently heavy punters of English Premier League (EPL) matches and after losing as much as RM30,000 each, have allegedly fixed Malaysian international matches and made killings on them by betting.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) suspected something amiss during the recent Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh where the national team, despite dominating play, lost two matches in the last fiveminutes on each occasion.
The MHF has already called in the police and it is learnt an officer from the Anti- Gambling and Vice unit recently met officials from the federation for further information.
The MHF also discussed the matter during its management committee meeting last week.
A source said it was a well-known fact that certain players bet heavily on the EPL and other sports.
“It has, however, reached disturbing levels as the players are getting deeper into debt and when forced to pay, have opted to fix matches involving them and then betting on Malaysia to lose,” said the source.
Odds on international hockey matches are also offered on certain gambling websites and this could be where the players are placing their bets.
An even more alarming situation could be that these players are “forced” to play below par by the syndicates to whom they owe money to.
Thiswon’t only help settle the players’gambling debts but the bookies could make a bigger killing by taking bets from other punters.
The source added that team officials had received information thatmatches were fixed in theAzlan Shah Cup.
Malaysia fell to four consecutive defeats — 3-1 to Britain, 2-1 to Australia, 5-2 to India and 3-2 to New Zealand.
The information was that certain players were playing below par on purpose and team officials issued a warning in the stadium’s changing room just before the match against South Korea.The players responded by beating Korea 3-1.
It is learnt the players have not been dropped yet as MHF is still investigating but it has been made known to all that action will be swift and harsh as MHF is determined to ensure that Malaysia is represented by a clean squad for the 2012 London Olympics Qualifier.
New Straits Times
