Match-fixing, kelong kings and the dirty business behind the beautiful game.
A 152-page book called Foul! The Inside Story Of Singapore Match Fixers will reveal the untold story of prominent Singaporean match fixers who have taken their criminal activities to the international scene.
Written by The New Paper's (TNP) senior correspondent Zaihan Mohamed Yusof, it explores the inner mechanisms of match-fixing syndicates and the deadly repercussions such as murder and suicide. It offers interviews with match fixers like Wilson Raj Perumal and shows action taken by local and international authorities to curb the rampant practice.
Foul! started with Mr Zaihan's 2011 TNP report, "Global Kelong Kings: Singapore has 'academy of match fixers', says Fifa". It won Story of the Year at the Singapore Press Holdings' 2012 English and Malay Newspaper Division awards.
On encouragement from TNP editor Dominic Nathan, Mr Zaihan turned his reporting - over four years - into a book.
A Europol announcement in February last year said that out of 680 matches suspected of being fixed, 300 had strong links to a Singapore cartel.
"I sensed there was international curiosity as to why and how a group of Singaporeans was able to compromise football on the international stage," Mr Zaihan said.
Foul! will be launched at SPH News Centre auditorium on Monday. It can be ordered at www.stpressbooks.com. sg or bought at major bookshops.
