Football Cheating Reduced By Polygraph Testing, Official Says

Football match-fixing in Singapore has "been reduced by compulsory lie detector tests for players as the country tries to stop criminal syndicates infiltrating the game," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. Lie detection tests were introduced to the players' code of conduct in Singapore's S-League in '01 after revelations that "several matches had been fixed." Singapore FA General Secretary Winston Lee told delegates at the Leaders in Football conference at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, “It is now compulsory for all players to go through polygraph tests.” The measures "haven’t stopped criminal groups from trying to influence" Singaporean games. Lee said, “Recently some foreigners flew into the country and offered a large sum of money to a goalkeeper. He reported this to our FA, and we had these people arrested, and they are now in jail in Singapore.” An umbrella organization for professional players, FIFPro, "questioned the efficacy of polygraph tests." FIFPro lawyer Wil van Megen said, "Experts say that people can cheat at these tests, that people can be influenced while taking these tests, that these tests can give the wrong results" (BLOOMBERG, 10/10).