11 footballers snared in match-fixing scandal

Twenty-three people including a coach and 11 footballers from Hong Kong's first division have been arrested by officers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on suspicion of match-fixing.

Principal investigator Kate Cheuk Chi-yan said the suspects - including almost half of the first division club Happy Valley Athletic Association, one of the oldest clubs in Hong Kong - were seen to be core members of a bookmaking syndicate that also included its mastermind.

Players Ching Man-chun, Chan Ho-fung, Lui Man-tik and Brian Fok Bun-yan and a club coach, Chiu Kok-chiu, were among those arrested, it is understood.

Each player allegedly received up to HK$10,000 for every fixed game in which they figured.

And not only did players allegedly lose in games on purpose but also gained more money from illegal gambling, said Cheuk, who added that the ICAC believes the syndicate to have been smashed.

Yesterday's operation was one the ICAC's largest match-fixing cases in recent years, involving the arrests of 22 men and a woman aged 25 to 36.

Besides the 11 players and the coach 11 middlemen and bookmakers were snared.

The investigation launched last year also showed the syndicate was involved in match-fixing during the latest season.

Cheuk said each player earned at least several thousand dollars and up to HK$10,000 per game.

Chief investigator Allen Leung Wing-hang said the commission found "suspected fraudulent activity and missteps" in 26 matches played this season.

Of those matches Happy Valley won eight, drew five and lost 13. It placed 10th in the 14-team division.

Leung said the syndicate would approach a team to discuss how to rig a game, and the syndicate would have footballers play badly to lose matches, including against weaker teams.

Players would also place bets on outside betting websites and adjust how they played depending on the changes in odds.

Outside bettors at the game would also communicate with players using coded movements, such as bending over and adjusting their socks or putting up the hoods of their sweatshirts.

Players would then be "awarded" rewards based on performances.

"The ICAC is committed to working closely with the Hong Kong Football Association to uphold the integrity of local football and to review anti-graft guidelines and hold corruption prevention seminars," Cheuk said.

Hong Kong FA chairman Pui Kwan-kay did not comment on the investigation but said the football body will help authorities stamp out the problem "at all costs."

He added: "I will support any action taken to nip [match-fixing] in the bud."

Suggesting that football rigging has long been an issue, he remarked: "Over the years the masterminds have never been affected."

In 2016 five players from Hong Kong club Pegasus and a bookmaker were arrested over rigging matches and taking bribes of more than HK$90,000.

Coach Lee Wai-lim pleaded guilty, while former players Kwok Kin-pong, Cheng Lai-him, Chan Pak-hang and Lee Ka-ho were found not guilty as there was no evidence that missed shots and own goals in some matches were intentional.

In 2014, Croatian footballer Sasa Mus of Happy Valley was imprisoned for 12 months after he was found guilty of fixing a match with Royal Southern.

And in 1998 the commission arrested then-Hong Kong team footballers Chan Tsz-kong and Lee Wai-man for intentionally playing poorly at a World Cup qualifying match against Thailand for which they received a combined payout of HK$200,000.

Chan was sentenced to a year in prison, and six others found to have been involved in betting during the qualifiers were also imprisoned and permanently suspended from professional football.

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com