SHAPE up on your supervision of foreign clubs - or risk having foreign players who are vulnerable to match-fixing.

That was the message Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong had for the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).

He said this in his written judgment on Zhao Zhipeng, 26, one of seven footballers from S-League team Liaoning Guangyuan (LGFC) convicted of match-fixing. All seven are Chinese nationals who took bribes from team manager Wang Xin to throw matches.

Wang would place bets on his own team to lose, through a friend in China.

CJ Chan noted that Wang could get his players to throw the matches because he ran the club like his own 'private fiefdom'.

According to Zhao's lawyer, Wang had absolute power to select and sack players. Zhao came to Singapore because Wang had fired eight players and replacements were needed.

Wang also held on to Zhao's passport, work permit and bank book.

All the club players and officials lived in the same condo, and Wang's apartment doubled as the club's office.

So when he pressured his players to take the money and lose their matches by a certain number of goals, they had little choice but to obey.

Zhao was approached by Wang in October 2007, barely five months after arriving in Singapore.

Wrote CJ Chan: 'Far away from his usual support networks (his friends and family in China) and cloistered in a world dominated by Wang Xin's presence, (Zhao's) sense of isolation and fear of antagonising Wang Xin were understandable...

'The example of LGFC shows that it is entirely possible for a foreign club to be managed and run on a daily basis by persons from the club's country of origin in the manner of a private fiefdom without any kind of meaningful oversight by the FAS.

'In such a situation, managers of such clubs may be able to wield a disproportionate influence over their players.'

Foreign players whose livelihoods depend on such owners and managers can then be persuaded or even threatened to throw matches.

The CJ felt that even though the S-League has an elaborate structure of rules and regulations, these were 'not sufficient' to prevent the match-fixing by Wang because FAS had little effective control over the foreign players brought in by LGFC.

This case highlights the potential danger of allowing foreign clubs into the S-League without introducing proper checks and balances to guard against the abuse of power by the owners and managers.

The CJ wrote: 'I expect that, as a result of this case, the FAS would have taken, or would be taking, steps to strengthen its supervisory structure so as to reduce the opportunities for managers and players, particularly foreign ones, to corrupt the S-League.'

Zhao pleaded guilty in February to one corruption charge. Two other charges were taken into consideration.

He was initially slapped with seven months' jail - the longest jail term for a footballer for match-fixing - and a $4,000 fine, for accepting $4,000 from Wang to throw matches.

He appealed against the jail term.

CJ Chan noted the importance of a deterrent sentence: If corruption in the S-League is not checked, it will eventually destroy the reputation and commercial viability of the league.

The impact of match-fixing on Singapore's international reputation must also be viewed in the context of the nation's drive to be a prime venue for prestigious international sporting events, such as the Formula One Grand Prix next month and the Youth Olympic Games in 2010.

However, given that Zhao had committed the offence out of fear of Wang rather than personal greed, CJ Chan cut his jail term to five months, in April.

He released his written judgment last week.

The other six players pleaded guilty in April and were sentenced to between four and five months' jail.

Wang jumped bail and fled Singapore in January.

Since 1995, more than 15 players, officials, bookmakers and a referee have been convicted of match-fixing offences.