A pamphlet highlighting the "3Rs" -- recognize, reject and report -- "is the latest tool to be distributed by the Asian Football Confederation as part of its ongoing fight against match-fixing in the region," according to Sudipto Ganguly of REUTERS. The AFC said that it "would distribute the pocket-sized booklet at all AFC competitions to educate stakeholders against the ills of match-fixing." Match-fixing "is rampant in Asia with cases being reported across the continent, including recent scandals in Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia." AFC Integrity Unit Dir Sanjeevan Balasingam said, "In line with the AFC Integrity Action Plan, this booklet falls under the prevention measures (specifically, awareness raising and training) being adopted by the AFC" (REUTERS, 7/26). The London GUARDIAN reported football chiefs in Thailand have come up with a "novel" way of trying to eradicate the country’s match-fixing problem -- "by getting referees to swear an oath in one of the country’s most famous religious temples." The FA of Thailand "took more than 100 referees to swear before the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok that they would officiate matches honestly after widespread rumours of corruption in the domestic league" (GUARDIAN, 7/29).
