Center

Report: Top goalkeeper admits match fixing

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-27 17:07

SEOUL - One of the Korean league's top goalkeepers has admitted involvement in the match-fixing scandal engulfing the domestic game, according to local media reports.

Related readings:  12 charged over match fixing in S Korea

Yonhap news agency quoted a K-League official as saying the goalkeeper acknowledged helping to fix games last season while playing for the Chunnam Dragons.

The player was not officially identified. South Korean news organizations reported that the player is Jeonbuk Hyundai goalkeeper Yeom Dong-Gyun, who had played for South Korea's under-23 team and been a back-up for the full national side.

He turned himself in to the league, which had offered more lenient penalties for those who meet an end-of-month deadline to admit their involvement.

"The goalkeeper first informed his Jeonbuk head coach Choi Kang-hee last Friday night," said K-League secretary general Ahn Gi-heon. "After speaking with Lee Chul-geun, general manager of Jeonbuk, we decided to hand the case over to prosecutors."

A unnamed league official cited by Yonhap said the player had been suspected of match fixing but had previously denied accusations.

Earlier this month, the Korea Football Association handed down life bans to 10 players charged over alleged involvement in match fixing.

Among them was Kim Dong-hyun of military club Sangju Sangmu, who had made six appearances for the national team. Kim was the highest-profile player implicated so far in the scandal.

The players allegedly accepted money from illegal gamblers to help their teams to lose games.

Kim was arrested earlier this month for allegedly introducing other players to "fixers" who then bet large sums of money on illegal online gambling sites. They face jail sentences of up to seven years if found guilty.

A former K-League player, who allegedly worked as a broker, was found dead in an apparent suicide earlier this month.

Eight of the banned players came from the same team, Daejeon Citizen.

An 11th player, Kim Jung-kyum of the Pohang Steelers, was given a ban of five years.

Kwak Young-cheol, head of the disciplinary committee, said that the punishment symbolizes the seriousness of the alleged wrongdoing.

"This decision shows our determination to be stern in dealing with corrupt and illegal activities in sports, which regards fair play and fairness as the highest values," Kwak said in the statement.

Kwak said the players' bans would be reviewed if they were cleared of wrongdoing in criminal proceedings.