Police close in on football fixers

Fixers ... Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble says progress has been made. Source: Lai Seng Sin / AP

Singaporean police said the suspected boss of a major football match-fixing ring was "assisting" investigations on Thursday after the head of Interpol urged his arrest and an alleged associate was held in Italy.

Tan Seet Eng, also known as Dan Tan, who has been named in several probes and is wanted in Italy, is "currently assisting Singapore authorities in their investigations", a police statement said.

It is the first time police have indicated Tan has undergone questioning. Singapore has come under growing pressure to act after Europol linked hundreds of suspicious games worldwide to a criminal syndicate in the city-state.

Police also confirmed they gave the tip-off that led to the arrest of Admir Sulic, an alleged associate of Tan, as he arrived at Milan's Malpensa airport from Singapore earlier on Thursday.

"The Singapore authorities have been offering assistance and sharing available information with affected countries and will continue to do so," the statement said.

The apparent crackdown comes just hours after Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble, speaking at a match-fixing conference in neighbouring Malaysia, bluntly told Singapore to arrest Tan.

Tan is wanted in Italy over the wide-ranging "calcioscommesse" scandal and emerged as a key suspect two weeks ago when Europol said fixers had targeted 380 games in Europe and 300 more around the world.

"The fact that there can be an alleged organised crime head operating in a country known to be safe, secure like Singapore, distresses Singaporeans and distresses the world," Noble said.

Interpol later said Slovenian Admir Sulic, 31, a suspected member of the so-called "zingari" (gypsies) syndicate allegedly headed by Tan, was arrested after touching down in the northern Italian city.

An international arrest warrant was issued for Sulic in December 2011 in connection with the football betting scandal in Italy which implicated dozens of players, coaches and officials.

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