Lebanese officials charged with corruption in Singapore court

The trio who were supposed to take charge of an AFC Cup match at Jalan Besar Stadium will be held in remand until bail is approved

The three Lebanese match officials who were set to officiate the Tampines Rovers – East Bengal AFC Cup match on Wednesday night but were brought into Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) custody, have been officially charged with corruption.

The trio of referee Ali Sabbagh and assistant referees Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb were charged in Singapore court on Thursday under Section 5(a)(i) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 241) with one count of corruption each.

The CPIB announced in a statement to the media that all three had received bribes in the form of free sexual services at Amara Hotel in Tanjong Pagar Road on the day of the match.

On Friday morning the prosecution made a case for the incident to be linked with syndicates and requested that no bail be allowed for the accused.

Ali Sabbagh and Abdallah Taleb will have their cases heard on April 10 while Ali Eid who was admitted to Singapore General Hospital after falling ill will have his day in court on April 8.

All three men will be held in remand until the confirmation of their bail proceedings.

The AFC Cup match in question was eventually officiated by Thai and Malaysian officials and ended 4-2 in favour of the visiting side.

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Lebanese officials charged with corruption in Singapore court