Footballers charged with bribery in match-fix case

Three footballers and a betting agent have been charged with bribing football players to rig the results of three local clubs across two seasons between 2021 and 2023.

No plea was taken as the four - accused of rigging the results of matches in the Hong Kong Premier League and the First Division of Hong Kong - appeared at Eastern Magistrates' Courts yesterday for mention before principal magistrate Ivy Chui Yee-mei.

All four were granted cash bail of HK$10,000 to HK$20,000 and had their traveling documents confiscated until their next court appearance on June 27.

Brian Fok, 29, who played for Hong Kong Football Club and Happy Valley Athletic Association as a defender, faces three counts of offering an advantage to an agent under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.

Fok and his codefendants - Luciano Silva Da Silva, 36, defender of Central and Western District Recreation and Sports Association, To Chun-kiu, 29, then goalkeeper of Sham Shui Po Sports Association, and betting agent Waheed Mohammad, 27 - also face two counts of conspiracy to cheat at gambling.

"Fok allegedly offered HK$10,000 per match to a teammate, midfielder Jean Carllo Maciel, as an inducement for fixing or attempting to fix the results of the football matches involving Hong Kong Football Club," the prosecution said.

Fok then raised the offer to HK$30,000 to Maciel, and offered HK$10,000 to another teammate, midfielder Marcus McMillan, to fix the results of their club's match against Hong Kong Rangers Football Club on November 7, 2021, the prosecution added.

Both midfielders rejected Fok's offers and reported the incident to the club, according to a probe by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Fok joined Happy Valley Athletic Association, competing in the first division, the following season, while Silva Da Silva played for Central and Western District Recreation and Sports Association in the same division.

Goalkeeper To, who is also accused of being a betting agent of illegal gambling websites together with Mohammad, allegedly joined the conspiracy by that time.

The four defendants allegedly conspired with another betting agent to cause Happy Valley Athletic Association to lose matches or manipulate the number of goals or corner kicks.

They manipulated the number of goals or corner kicks of Central and Western District Recreation and Sports Association later on to win money in gambling, according to the prosecutor.

The ICAC probe revealed that the four defendants placed bets on over 30 matches participated by the two football clubs in the 2022-23 season, during which Fok had given live signals at matches to the betting agents, the prosecution said.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com