K-League hit by Match Fixing Scandal
ashindia
9490 Points
Korean football has been hit hard by the revelation of an unprecedented match-fixing scandal involving at least 10 professional players.
The Changwon District Prosecutor's Office said an investigation has commenced involving two gambling brokers, one a former footballer, who were allegedly in contact with several professional Korean players, concerning the illegal fixing of games.
Six-time national team striker Kim Dong-Hyun, who currently plays with K-League club Sangju Sangmu, is one of the players involved and has been summoned by investigators.
Both brokers are now in police custody along with two other K-League players, one of whom is a goalkeeper and the other a midfielder.
Both players are suspected of taking bribes from the brokers in exchange for fixing K-League matches in order to ensure a predictable outcome for the Korean sports lottery Sports Toto.
The goalkeeper in question is suspected of having received approximately US$92,000, while the midfielder is suspected of receiving around US$110,000.
The names of these two players have not yet been released to the public by the Korean Football Association.
The prosecutors confirmed there are at least 10 players under investigation.
“The whole story behind this incident has not been exposed because we are in the early stages of the investigation," said a prosecution official to the Korea Times.
"The bribed football players and others suspected of being involved in the scam have not yet been questioned."
It is the first time a scam of such proportions has come to light in Korea, sending shockwaves throughout the sport in the East Asian nation.
The KFA has announced that until furthur notice, Sports Toto will be shut down in an effort to prevent more fixing of game results and illegal gambling.
The Changwon District Prosecutor's Office said an investigation has commenced involving two gambling brokers, one a former footballer, who were allegedly in contact with several professional Korean players, concerning the illegal fixing of games.
Six-time national team striker Kim Dong-Hyun, who currently plays with K-League club Sangju Sangmu, is one of the players involved and has been summoned by investigators.
Both brokers are now in police custody along with two other K-League players, one of whom is a goalkeeper and the other a midfielder.
Both players are suspected of taking bribes from the brokers in exchange for fixing K-League matches in order to ensure a predictable outcome for the Korean sports lottery Sports Toto.
The goalkeeper in question is suspected of having received approximately US$92,000, while the midfielder is suspected of receiving around US$110,000.
The names of these two players have not yet been released to the public by the Korean Football Association.
The prosecutors confirmed there are at least 10 players under investigation.
“The whole story behind this incident has not been exposed because we are in the early stages of the investigation," said a prosecution official to the Korea Times.
"The bribed football players and others suspected of being involved in the scam have not yet been questioned."
It is the first time a scam of such proportions has come to light in Korea, sending shockwaves throughout the sport in the East Asian nation.
The KFA has announced that until furthur notice, Sports Toto will be shut down in an effort to prevent more fixing of game results and illegal gambling.
Comments
Hammam axed from FIFA and now Asia's best league hit by match fixing. <!-- s:oops: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_redface.gif" alt=":oops:" title="Embarrassed" /><!-- s:oops: -->
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To be frank.. this year I league is so competitive and hope so I league will be the best asian league..
Btw, why were the fans banned?
No no you got it wrong. It were 8 players from the Daejeon Citizens that got banned for life.
Yeah, but 8 players is a lot and some fans might have a favorite from 8 of those players who were banned.