It's so easy to get caught

TNP PICTURE: DILENJIT SINGH

They are paid a pittance and are consistently subjected to an avalanche of abuse, sometimes even physical violence.

But local referees are unlikely to go the route of their Malaysian counterpart Shokri Nor who was yesterday charged for attempting to fix Tuesday's Malaysian Super League match between LionsXII and Sarawak.

That was the verdict of the majority of match officials whom The New Paper spoke to.

They cited the severe punishment, strong deterrent and the fact that referee's officiated out of passion rather than as a profession as reasons why corrupt match officials are rare in Singapore.