Interpol's chief Ronald K. Noble says people like Mr Declan Hill should "simply open their eyes and look at the facts", before criticising Singapore's efforts in fighting match-fixing.

One of the allegations that Mr Hill made in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service Radio Report on Sept 20 was that local authorities had offered protection to suspected match-fixing syndicate ringleader Dan Tan, who was arrested together with 13 other Singaporeans also believed to be involved in the syndicate.

The police have refuted Mr Hill's allegations. They said in their statement on Monday that it was regrettable that the BBC allowed its interviewee to make baseless allegations "without asking for his basis or any substantiation".

Mr Noble told The Straits Times that he wished Mr Hill would take a balanced approach in his comments. "Mr Hill wrote a great book exposing the problem of match-fixing...but ever since that book, it seems that all he can do is just criticise, criticise, criticise, and not recognise that it's different to write an article where you accuse someone as compared to bringing charges against him," he said. "I wish he would tell the story from both sides." Mr Noble was speaking on the sidelines of the topping out ceremony of the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation here, which is scheduled to open in September next year.