It looks like Dwight Eisenhower might have been right after all. Let a malign force linger unchallenged in South East Asia and all of a sudden it starts spreading to areas once considered under control.
Singapore and Malaysia have emerged as hotbeds of illegal betting and match fixing in the world of football, with the likes of Dan Tan and the Kelong Kings among the most well-known perpetrators.
Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation continue to furrow their brows and make grave pronouncements about the need to stamp out illegal betting, but, unlike their good friends at the English Football Association, they appear to be in no danger of taking action that might deal with the problem.
Now, almost a year after three Lebanese referees were dropped from an AFC Cup match and later convicted of accepting sexual favours in exchange for fixing said match, South East Asia and the AFC Cup have been linked to match fixing again.
Vietnamese side Ninh Binh has 13 players under investigation for attempting to fix matches in the domestic V-League and the AFC Cup.
According to a Goal.com report, Ninh Binh players accepted 800 million Vietnamese dong (Dh139,000) to fix an AFC Cup match against Malaysian side Kelantan. Their league results are also under scrutiny.
Owner Vu Manh Truong has suspended all club activities while the investigations take place.
Full credit to the club management for taking swift and decisive action to root out the problem, even if it will cause the rest of their league and AFC Cup opponents no small inconvenience in the short term.
The AFC, in case anyone was wondering, has "expressed concern" and is monitoring the situation.
If the thinking is that incidents such as these only happen in poor countries where players and officials can be bought for a song, think again.
Europe has experienced recent match-fixing scandals in Turkey, Austria, Italy, Croatia and England. Even Australia, a country with a booming economy and a tradition of fair play, is far from immune.
That's right, Australia – that land of sun and colour, where making sure everyone has "a fair go" was once part of the national ethos.
Late last year, two players from Southern Stars, a club in the second-tier Victorian Premier League, and a Malaysian middleman were arrested and charged with fixing matches as part of a multimillion-dollar scheme described as the worst such scandal in Australian sporting history.
The players involved received worldwide, lifetime bans from football, while the Malaysian man could end up in jail.
There was a moment of humour during proceedings in Melbourne last week as the court heard the procedure for fixing matches was so unsophisticated the middleman would shout instructions from the sidelines.
The relationship between the worlds of football and gambling needs to be examined.
It is curious how the sport’s grand poobahs can decry the influence of bookmakers and prohibit people involved in football from gambling, yet eagerly cash the cheques from gambling organisations that plaster their ads all over matches.
Ever since the Gambling Act of 2005 came into force in the United Kingdom – removing restrictions that previously only allowed gambling advertising on TV by football pools, bingo and the National Lottery – gambling ads on British TV have risen 600 per cent, to the point where they comprise 4.1 per cent of all TV ads in Britain.
Turn on a random Premier League game and it is not hard to notice how intertwined football and gambling have become.
Every Premier League club has an official betting partner – Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland have two, one at home and another for Asia – and Stoke City, Aston Villa and Fulham have gaming companies as their shirt sponsors.
In fact, Stoke’s chairman also happens to be deeply involved with Bet365, Stoke’s principal club partner and shirt sponsor.
Football’s open embrace of gambling and the revenue it provides seems incongruous when compared to the problems it presents.
The gap between reality and the rhetoric of the game’s decision-makers is harder to ignore.
The perpetrators are not just poorly paid, low-level players – the likes of Andros Townsend (Tottenham), Cameron Jerome (Stoke), Dan Gosling (Newcastle United) and others have fallen foul of gambling regulations recently.
Football at seemingly every professional level is addicted to, or somehow negatively influenced by, gambling and must acknowledge that fact.
This is not to say that anyone who engages in gambling is a degenerate and a threat to society, and neither is it to suggest that those in the gaming industry are amoral vultures taking advantage of the poor and vulnerable.
Rather, the point is that those charged with overseeing football need to take seriously the threat posed by match-fixing and illegal betting – and sacking your security chief weeks after launching a campaign to stop match-fixing is not the way to convince people you unequivocally support that fight.
Much like the issue of performance-enhancing drugs, match-fixing strikes at the trust that is central to the heart of sports.
If fans and athletes cannot trust what they see on the field of competition, then sports might as well be reduced to the level of professional wrestling.
After all, if the result is predetermined, why get worked up about it?
pfreelend@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Company profile
Name: Tabby
Founded: August 2019; platform went live in February 2020
Founder/CEO: Hosam Arab, co-founder: Daniil Barkalov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Payments
Size: 40-50 employees
Stage: Series A
Investors: Arbor Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Wamda Capital, STV, Raed Ventures, Global Founders Capital, JIMCO, Global Ventures, Venture Souq, Outliers VC, MSA Capital, HOF and AB Accelerator.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Results
2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Mamia Al Reef, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
3.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner: Jaahiz, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner: Qanoon, Szczepan Mazur, Irfan Ellahi.
4.15pm: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Cup Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 1,700m.
Winner: Philosopher, Tadhg O’Shea, Salem bin Ghadayer.
54.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner: Jap Al Yassoob, Fernando Jara, Irfan Ellahi.
The five pillars of Islam
Company profile
Company name: Shipsy
Year of inception: 2015
Founders: Soham Chokshi, Dhruv Agrawal, Harsh Kumar and Himanshu Gupta
Based: India, UAE and Indonesia
Sector: logistics
Size: more than 350 employees
Funding received so far: $31 million in series A and B rounds
Investors: Info Edge, Sequoia Capital’s Surge, A91 Partners and Z3 Partners
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation 2 to 5
Rating: 5/5
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Qader, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roaulle
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 258hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.1L/100km
Price: from Dh362,500
On sale: now
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
The specs
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 660hp
Torque: 1,100Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 488km-560km
Price: From Dh850,000 (estimate)
On sale: October
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
In The Heights
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Stars: Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manual Miranda
Rating: ****
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
Director: James Gunn
Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper
Rating: 4/5
A QUIET PLACE
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst