Soccer-Match-fixing deterrent too expensive say Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) have baulked at the $50 a match cost of employing Sportsradar to monitor betting practices but are open to cheaper suggestions on how to tackle match-fixing in their domestic leagues. Sportsradar have become synonymous with soccer's battle to rid the game of match-fixing and have partnerships with regional confederations UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC as well as the English Premier League and Bundesliga. The organisation say they process 432 million odds movements per day at over 350 bookmakers in Asia and Europe and were responsible for unearthing a match-fixing scandal in Australia league last year which led to a Malaysian national getting a jail sentence. But the FAM are unsure if the service proves value for money and were hopeful the Swiss organisation would drop their price. "Our vetting, monitoring and integrity committee had a fruitful meeting with Sportsradar last year," FAM general secretary Hamidin Mohd Amin was quoted as saying by Tuesday's New Straits Times. "The only hiccup is the fee of $50 for each match, which we feel is too expensive. "We are open to anyone with an effective method to monitor corruption in the M-League." Malaysia has struggled to dispel the problems of match-fixing with numerous cases over the years. Last year, five players and three team officials from Malaysian lower league team Kuala Lumpur were handed life bans after being found guilty of match-fixing. A further 17 players in the team were fined for accepting bribes. One of those, goalkeeper Azizon Abdul Kadir who now plays for Police, was called up to the national team by new coach Dollah Salleh for Sunday's friendly loss to Indonesia. Azizon's first start in seven years for the national team following the match-fixing incident drew the ire of Johor FA President Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim. "The question now is what is national coach Dollah Salleh thinking? This is a very disturbing issue and indirectly shows weaknesses in the management," he was quoted as saying by state agency Bernama after the match. "We truly need a coach who can evaluate players based on their performance and merit and not otherwise." (Reporting by Patrick Johnston; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)