Of course, we can still assume there might have been some miscommunication or misunderstanding and the man might be back at a later date. But it is disturbing to see so much trust afforded to a suspect of corrupt practices that continues to threaten our national sport and pastime – football. Wang Xin faces up to 25 counts of match-fixing, and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) must definitely have a body of evidence to support their charges, even though we should always assume a man is innocent until proven guilty.

It might seem an oversight by the High Court in this situation. The S-League’s reputation continues to be sullied by such match-fixing and corruption cases and will never grow and gain foothold in the region unless anything involved is treated with tough measures. The case with Michael Vana years ago should have taught us a lesson.

So far, most, if not all, the foreign clubs invited to the S-League have failed. Perhaps in a last-ditch attempt, we should look at inviting a team from the Middle East. Their national sides have done well in recent years and have generally overtaken the East Asian sides in standing and results. Japan and South Korea are no longer as formidable. Middle Eastern players are also sound technically and entertaining. Since the Singapore government has had tie-ups with the Saudi Arabians on many fronts, why not sports as well? And with the money those oil rich merchants can pay their footballers, perhaps the risk of them involved in match-fixing will be low! Certainly you would not expect more horror stories like that of the eight Liaoning Guangyuan footballers left in Singapore who are now living from hand to mouth.