Pressure on Singapore

Singapore's reputation for low corruption came under fire Tuesday after revelations that a criminal gang based in the city-state rigged hundreds of football matches in Europe and elsewhere.
While police had no immediate comment and some of the country's state-linked media downplayed the news, some Singaporeans expressed shock and analysts said the scandal could harm the wealthy island's squeaky-clean image.
In just the latest indication that Singapore is at the heart of a global match-fixing empire, European police said they had smashed a network rigging hundreds of games, including in the Champions League and World Cup qualifiers.
Europol said a five-country probe had identified 380 suspicious matches targeted by a Singapore-based betting cartel, whose illegal activities stretched to players, referees and officials across the world.
Singapore's role in international match-rigging has long been clear, with Wilson Raj Perumal jailed in Finland in 2011 and another Singaporean, Tan Seet Eng or Dan Tan, wanted in Italy over the "calcioscommesse" scandal.
But the latest news shone a harsh light on the problem and raised potential problems for Singapore's reputation, as well as questions about how authorities are dealing with the match-fixing syndicates, analysts said.