Moises Natalino De Jesus, a former Timor Leste national team footballer, has been handed a 20-month jail term after agreeing to offer bribes to players of the Timor Leste football team as a reward for them arranging to lose their Group B match against Malaysia on May 30, reports Channel NewsAsia.

Orlando Marques Henriques Mendes, a technical director of the Timor Leste Football Association and team manager of the Timor Leste football team, has been sentenced to 24 months in jail, meanwhile.  

He had been charged on three counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act for agreeing to accept the bribe.

The duo, both of whom pleaded guilty on the second day of their trial, are said to have intended to engage at least seven players to ensure that Timor Leste lost the match against Malaysia at the Bishan Stadium, which they did, 1-0.

The pair’s co-accused, Indonesian Nasiruddin and Singaporean Rajendran Kurusamy, pleaded guilty earlier this year and were sentenced to 30 and 48 months in jail respectively.

Deputy Public Prosecutor G Kannan told the court that Orlando should be considered more culpable than Moises, describing him as the "crucial link", without which his three co-conspirators would not have been able to execute their plan. 

"They needed this man [Orlando] to be able to approach the players…in order to achieve their [intended] result," he said.

Moises offences were said to be transboundary in nature, with Kannan noting that he had travelled to Singapore for the sole purpose of committing crime.

Kannan also pointed out that without Moises’ involvement, Nasiruddin and Kurusamy would not have been able to get in contact with the Timor Leste team.

"Match-fixers must know that if they are to try and fix matches in Singapore or operate out of Singapore to fix matches abroad…that justice will be swift and sure," he added.

In delivering his judgement, District Judge Chay Yuan Fatt acknowledged the growing prevalence of match-fixing, and its damage to Singapore’s reputation as a location for staging international sporting events.

The judge also noted that the duo had only decided to plead guilty after hearing the incriminating evidence of Kurusamy, who had testified against them the day before.

D. Saarvindran scored the winning goal for Malaysia in the match.

Thailand, who topped the group involving Timor Leste and Malaysia, went on to win the competition, beating Myanmar 3-0 in the final.



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