Malaysian soccer beats corruption

Malaysian soccer beats corruption

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian police and soccer chiefs were claiming victory yesterday in the fight against bribery and corruption in the game after sending the culprits into internal exile and promising "cleaner" players.

After the arrest of nearly 100 players, coaches and bookies and the banishment or state exile of 22 of them in the past four months, officials said they were concluding their probe against match-fixers in the national premier league.

Singapore's sudden pull-out from the league on Tuesday made the task easier as most of the illegal bookmaking on Malaysian soccer matches was suspected to have been done through the republic, officials said.