K-League in crisis as corruption probe widens
Source: Agencies |
June 4, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ASIA'S oldest professional football league is wrestling with one of the continent's most serious match-fixing scandals, with fans in South Korea stunned by revelations of bribery and corruption in the K-league.
Already, six players have been arrested, along with two gambling brokers, and charged with receiving money in exchange for trying to fix the results of their games. A former K-league star linked to the scandal was found dead last week in an apparent suicide.
More arrests could follow as police continue to investigate what has been described as the league's worst crisis. KFA officials are desperately scrambling to restore public trust. The scope of investigation has widened to include K-league games from 2010 which were the focus of heavy gambling.
K-League general secretary Ahn Ki-heon has announced a moratorium period, saying that players coming forward with details of match-fixing would be treated leniently.
"From June 1 to 13, we will receive reports on match-fixing from any player," Ahn said. "For those who confess in this period, we will ask for a favorable arrangement with prosecutors."
K-League chief executive and league commissioner Chung Mong-gyu has apologized for the scandal and vowed to stamp out corruption amid claims in the local media that some clubs were aware of players fixing matches in the past but chose to transfer them to lower league teams or overseas in a bid to prevent any unwelcome publicity.
The Korean Football Association has also announced that it will establish a special committee comprised of its own officials and others from the K-League, other football organizations and the Ministry of Justice. This emergency committee will eventually become a permanent anti-corruption unit.
Already, six players have been arrested, along with two gambling brokers, and charged with receiving money in exchange for trying to fix the results of their games. A former K-league star linked to the scandal was found dead last week in an apparent suicide.
More arrests could follow as police continue to investigate what has been described as the league's worst crisis. KFA officials are desperately scrambling to restore public trust. The scope of investigation has widened to include K-league games from 2010 which were the focus of heavy gambling.
K-League general secretary Ahn Ki-heon has announced a moratorium period, saying that players coming forward with details of match-fixing would be treated leniently.
"From June 1 to 13, we will receive reports on match-fixing from any player," Ahn said. "For those who confess in this period, we will ask for a favorable arrangement with prosecutors."
K-League chief executive and league commissioner Chung Mong-gyu has apologized for the scandal and vowed to stamp out corruption amid claims in the local media that some clubs were aware of players fixing matches in the past but chose to transfer them to lower league teams or overseas in a bid to prevent any unwelcome publicity.
The Korean Football Association has also announced that it will establish a special committee comprised of its own officials and others from the K-League, other football organizations and the Ministry of Justice. This emergency committee will eventually become a permanent anti-corruption unit.
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