An international sporting corruption body says leading bookmakers have reduced maximum bet limits for the Asian Cup amid concerns some matches could be rigged, as claims surface that two of the participating countries played in a suspicious fixture as recently as November.
As the cup, held in Australia for the first time, reaches the quarter-final stages, the International Centre for Sports Security revealed that the move to cap betting showed bookmakers were wary of the integrity of the competition.
A confidential ICSS report about the Asian Football Confederation shows there were concerns raised about more than 30 matches involving Asian teams since 2006.
An international friendly between Qatar and North Korea on November 7 last year is the most recent match to raise the eyebrows of corruption investigators, according to the report.
Four goals were scored in the second half of the match, which was won 3-1 by home side Qatar. Qatar had not beaten North Korea in the three previous matches between the sides.
Both sides were knocked out after the group stage of the Asian Cup, having lost all three matches.
Qatar were beaten 4-1 by the UAE in Canberra and North Korea's heaviest loss was a 4-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in Melbourne.
Fred Lord, the ICSS anti-corruption and transparency operations director, said that while the decision of major Asian gambling firms SBO and IBC to cap betting at £4000 ($7490) may hinder match fixers, most corruption syndicates made their winnings on the black market. There had not been any specific information regarding fixed matches at the cup.
He said Australia, and particularly Victoria, was a harder target for corruption syndicates than other locations in Asia, and authorities had used the centre's intelligence as part of their "due diligence" while organising the tournament.
But he was concerned that the sentences for match fixing-related offences in Victoria, particularly those imposed on offenders linked to the Southern Stars scandal, were not harsh enough to discourage syndicates from again trying their hand.
The difference in sentences is best illustrated by the two men trusted by the world's most prolific match fixer, Wilson Raj Perumal, to orchestrate the Stars scheme.
Krishna "Sanjey" Ganeshan had been replaced as the head of the syndicate in Melbourne by Segaran "Gerry" Subramaniam mid-2013.
Ganeshan went to England, where he was charged with fraud-related offences over attempting to establish a fixing syndicate, and jailed for five years - despite no matches being compromised.
Subramaniam, who pleaded guilty to his part in fixing six Stars matches, received a three-year prison term, with two years suspended.
"When you look at the costs of investigating these syndicates, and the extent of the networks involved, it really needs to be about consequences," Mr Lord said.
"Corruption and match fixing is getting worse, and it has to be discouraged with sentences that reflect the wealth and power of the networks behind it."
Other suspicious matches mentioned in the ICSS report include some contested by women's, junior and club teams, including Asian Cup qualifiers.
Many of the matches are linked to syndicates controlled by Perumal, who has previously claimed to have fixed two matches involving Australian national teams, either by bribing officials or the opposing team.
Mr Lord said Asian football associations are considered some of the most corruptible, as well as those from Africa, despite European football remaining the main focus of fixing syndicates.
Some syndicates have been linked to other serious organised crime, including drugs and weapons importation.
Australia was not at any greater risk of corruption because the Asian Cup, Cricket World Cup and Australian Open were being held in such a tight window, Mr Lord said.
But organisers could improve security by looking "over the horizon", he said.
Victoria Police's sports corruption taskforce, Purana, has charged tennis and soccer players with fixing-related offending since specific legislation was introduced in 2013. The taskforce is supported by the police sporting integrity intelligence unit.
The ICSS, a Doha-based organisation, has developed relationships with sporting and government bodies, including the OECD, and assisted in the Stars investigation.
