Alleged global match-fixer freed in Singapore

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean accused of leading the world’s largest football match-fixing syndicate was freed on Wednesday after a surprise court ruling seen as a blow to efforts to rid global sport of corruption.
Businessman Dan Tan, who was arrested in September 2013 but never tried, was released after the Court of Appeal ruled that it was “unlawful” to keep him detained because he did not pose a danger to public safety in Singapore.
The ministry of home affairs, under heavy international pressure, had invoked a special anti-gangster law against Tan after it became difficult to find enough evidence and witnesses to file criminal charges.
The three-judge court, Singapore’s highest legal authority, said that while match-fixing was “reprehensible and should not be condoned”, the alleged acts “all took place beyond our shores” and no evidence was presented to show that potential witnesses were being intimidated.
Tan, 51, a slight man with a shaved head, boarded a taxi outside the Supreme Court after his release without speaking to reporters.
“My client is relieved and grateful to the court for having come to this fair conclusion,” his lawyer Hamidul Haq told the Straits Times newspaper.
Chris Eaton, the Qatar-based executive director for sport integrity of the International Center for Sport Security, criticised the ruling and urged Singapore to update its laws.