Match Fixing Hits the K-League

June 2nd, 2011 | by: Jae | Comments Off

Over the past couple weeks match fixing has been in the news. Investigators in Changwon, South Korea started looking into possible betting by players and those involved in matches at all levels of football in Korea. Currently five active K-League players have been arrested for accepting money from gambling brokers in exchange for making mistakes to help their team lose matches. The investigation is still ongoing.

Besides the five players arrested, the scandal has claimed two other lives. A few weeks ago Incheon United goalkeeper Yoon Ki-Won was found dead in his car, police suspected it was suicide. With the news of the scandal breaking, it is now believed that Yoon possibly may have been involved. Another player, at third-tier side Seoul United, Jeong Jong-Kwan, committed suicide, leaving a note stating that he was ashamed of his role in match-fixing. Many other players are being investigated. The most notable are players from K-League clubs such as Pohang Steelers, Gwangju FC, Sangju Sangmu Phoenix, and Daejeon Citizens.

It remains to be seen how this scandal affects the already struggling K-League. Attendance has been down over the past few years and since the scandal broke, average attendance around the country dropped. K-League officials have promised to eliminate match-fixing in the league in an effort to maintain the league’s reputation, but what else are they going to do? Hopefully this will not be a problem again in the future and the league will be able to survive. Football is very popular in Korea, at least for the national team, and this certainly deals a blow to the domestic league. More information will be published as it becomes available.