Soccer-AFC suspend East Timor manager in match-fixing case

SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) - The team manager of the East Timor football side has been provisionally suspended by the Asian Football Confederation after a match-fixing scandal broke at the Southeast Asian Games. "Mr Orlando Marques Henriques Mendes, the team manager of the Federação Futebol Timor-Leste U-23 national team, has been provisionally suspended from all football-related activity," the AFC said in a statement on Monday. Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said on Friday they had arrested an alleged local match-fixer and several "co-conspirators" of different nationalities without naming them just before the football tournament kicked off at the biennial Games. The CPIB also said some members from the East Timor party were assisting them in investigations. The team played their opening match of the tournament on Saturday, losing 1-0 to Malaysia. The AFC said Mendes' provisional ban would last 30 days after receiving a report from SEA Games organisers of the CPIB investigation. "The AFC has opened disciplinary proceedings against Mr Mendes for alleged violations of Articles 21 (bribery) and 25 (integrity of matches and competitions) of the AFC Code of Ethics, and Articles 62 (corruption) and 69 (unlawfully influencing match results) of the AFC Disciplinary Code," the confederation said. "The provisional suspension may be extended once for a further twenty (20) days." Singapore has long battled soccer match-fixing problems. In 2013, European anti-crime agency Europol said the small, wealthy city-state was the source for more than 600 matches being fixed in global scams. (Reporting by Patrick Johnston; Editing by Ian Ransom)