He doen't really look it, but 49-year-old Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal has been one of the most wanted men in the world, and is known as football’s most infamous brigand.
In his first ever TV interview, Perumal casually admitted to CNN about fixing between 80 to 100 football matches all over the world, starting small with our own S.League and expanding operations overseas in Europe and Africa, even attempting to bribe Chelsea Football Club’s goalkeeper Dmitri Kharine at one time. Achieving a success rate of 70 to 80 percent, he claims to have manipulated major games such as the Olympics, World Cup qualifiers, the African Cup of Nations and more.
Throughout his globe-trotting criminal endeavours, he claims to have made about $5 million in total for himself.
Imprisonment didn’t seem to discourage him — it was only after being convicted for the fourth time in Finland in 2011 that he decided to come clean to the authorities and expose what INTERPOL has described as “the world’s most notorious match-fixing syndicate” headed by Singaporean Tan Seet Eng, who is now reportedly in detention here.
In April, investigative journalists Alessandro Righi, Emanuele Piano worked together with Perumal and released Kelong Kings, a tell-all tale about the match-fixer’s journey into global infamy. "I have no regrets. It was like, it was a phase of my life and I enjoyed it and I traveled around the world. I had a good time," he declares. Today, Perumal is assisting European police in the continual efforts to combat match-fixing.
Photo: AFP / Kaisa Siren
Read Also: Singapore gambler denies World Cup fixing link; No proof Perumal fixed Cameroon-Croatia game: FIFA
He doen't really look it, but 49-year-old Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal has been one of the most wanted men in the world, and is known as football’s most infamous brigand.
In his first ever TV interview, Perumal casually admitted to CNN about fixing between 80 to 100 football matches all over the world, starting small with our own S.League and expanding operations overseas in Europe and Africa, even attempting to bribe Chelsea Football Club’s goalkeeper Dmitri Kharine at one time. Achieving a success rate of 70 to 80 percent, he claims to have manipulated major games such as the Olympics, World Cup qualifiers, the African Cup of Nations and more.
Throughout his globe-trotting criminal endeavours, he claims to have made about $5 million in total for himself.
Imprisonment didn’t seem to discourage him — it was only after being convicted for the fourth time in Finland in 2011 that he decided to come clean to the authorities and expose what INTERPOL has described as “the world’s most notorious match-fixing syndicate” headed by Singaporean Tan Seet Eng, who is now reportedly in detention here.
In April, investigative journalists Alessandro Righi, Emanuele Piano worked together with Perumal and released Kelong Kings, a tell-all tale about the match-fixer’s journey into global infamy. "I have no regrets. It was like, it was a phase of my life and I enjoyed it and I traveled around the world. I had a good time," he declares. Today, Perumal is assisting European police in the continual efforts to combat match-fixing.
Photo: AFP / Kaisa Siren
Read Also: Singapore gambler denies World Cup fixing link; No proof Perumal fixed Cameroon-Croatia game: FIFA