SINGAPORE // A Singapore court jailed a Lebanese referee for six months today for accepting sexual favours to fix a football game, a day after two fellow countrymen were jailed for the same offence amid an international investigation into football corruption.
Ali Sabbagh, a Fifa-accredited referee, had admitted having sex with a woman hired by accused Singapore match-fixer Ding Si Yang, who has denied wrongdoing.
Sabbagh and two Lebanese assistant referees were convicted of accepting sexual bribes to fix a future match, but no specific game was identified by the prosecution.
He was withdrawn as referee only hours before an AFC Cup match between Singapore's Tampines Rovers and India's East Bengal on April 3.
Singapore has been the focus of a probe into football match-fixing, with European anti-crime agency Europol saying in February that hundreds of matches had been fixed by a global betting syndicate based in the South-east Asian city-state.
Sabbagh's sentence will be backdated to April 4 when he was detained by police along with assistants Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb, who were jailed for three months on Monday for accepting sexual favours from prostitutes hired by Ding.
Mr Ding, who has also been arrested, is out on bail and has pleaded not guilty to three bribery charges against him - one for each of the Lebanese defendants.
"You actively allowed yourself to be cultivated by Ding," Singapore's Subordinate Courts Judge Low Wee Ping told Sabbagh before announcing the jail sentence.
"If you had not been arrested by the CPIB (Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau) and convicted in this court, one wonders how many international football matches you would have gone on to fix."
Singapore prosecutors had described Ali Sabbagh as "the most culpable" of the three Lebanese since he had more influence on the outcome of a match as referee. He also influenced the two assistants into accepting the sexual bribes, prosecutors said.
Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb, who are also Fifa-accredited, were released on Monday after being granted time off their sentence for good behaviour, Singapore authorities said.
In Sabbagh's case, prosecutors said he first made contact with Mr Ding in June 2012 at a cafe in Beirut.
Then the three Lebanese met Mr Ding in Singapore on April 2 "to discuss their preference for girls" one day before the match between the Singaporean and Indian teams, the prosecution said.
Ding subsequently arranged for the women to be sent to their hotel rooms in the early hours of April 3, the prosecution said.
Lawyer Gary Low, who acted for the three Lebanese, said in a mitigation plea that the "acceptance of the gratification ... did not result in any actual football match being fixed".
Sabbagh would be a star witness and his testimony would be crucial in helping the prosecution make its case against Ding, Low added.
Under Singapore's Prevention of Corruption Act, the three Lebanese officials had each faced a possible maximum fine of S$100,000 (Dh291,855) and five years in jail.
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Nationality: Emirati
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Famous left-handers
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Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
Third Test
Result: India won by 203 runs
Series: England lead five-match series 2-1
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
The full list of 2020 Brit Award nominees (winners in bold):
British group
Coldplay
Foals
Bring me the Horizon
D-Block Europe
Bastille
British Female
Mabel
Freya Ridings
FKA Twigs
Charli xcx
Mahalia
British male
Harry Styles
Lewis Capaldi
Dave
Michael Kiwanuka
Stormzy
Best new artist
Aitch
Lewis Capaldi
Dave
Mabel
Sam Fender
Best song
Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - I Don’t Care
Mabel - Don’t Call Me Up
Calvin Harrison and Rag’n’Bone Man - Giant
Dave - Location
Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove
Lewis Capaldi - Someone you Loved
Tom Walker - Just You and I
Sam Smith and Normani - Dancing with a Stranger
Stormzy - Vossi Bop
International female
Ariana Grande
Billie Eilish
Camila Cabello
Lana Del Rey
Lizzo
International male
Bruce Springsteen
Burna Boy
Tyler, The Creator
Dermot Kennedy
Post Malone
Best album
Stormzy - Heavy is the Head
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent
Dave - Psychodrama
Harry Styles - Fine Line
Rising star
Celeste
Joy Crookes
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (11.30pm)
Saturday Freiburg v Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund, Cologne v Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld v Mainz (6.30pm) Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig (9.30pm)
Sunday Werder Bremen v Stuttgart (6.30pm), Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (9pm)
Monday Hoffenheim v Augsburg (11.30pm)