THE Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has approached a British bookmaking firm with a proposal to set up a legalised betting system in the region to counter the threat of match-fixing.
In a determined effort to root out corruption in the game in Southeast Asia, the governing body of Asian soccer is presently talking to a company, with the idea of establishing betting shops in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
AFC general-secretary Peter Velappan was not willing to speak to the South China Morning Post yesterday on this issue, apparently because it is still at an early stage. But he is committed to stamping out corruption in the game in Southeast Asia.
In the August issue of the organisation's magazine, AFC News, Velappan acknowledged that illegal gambling syndicates were a huge menace to the game in Asia and a concerted bid from everyone concerned, including all the associations, would be needed to fight it.
Velappan was quoted as saying: 'We will be taking the fight to the syndicates. That is the only way to beat this terrible curse.' On this instance, he was referring to the setting up of an anti-corruption committee whose main goal would be to wipe out match-fixing.
It was felt that one of measures this committee would take was the establishment of legalised betting shops with the help of a reputable British bookmaker.