ID :
192185
Fri, 07/01/2011 - 06:22
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/192185
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Footballers indicted for match fixing receive lifetime bans
SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- Footballers who recently received lifetime bans from the nation's top professional league for match fixing were handed permanent bans from all football-related positions, the sport's national governing body said Friday.
Korea Football Association (KFA) said 10 of the 11 indicted K-Leaguers will be banned from playing in lower-tier and amateur leagues, and from becoming football coaches and players' agents.
On June 17, the 10 players received lifetime bans from the K-League after getting indicted for their connections with match-fixing schemes. It was the toughest penalty handed down in the league's 28-year history. The league had said then it would ask the KFA to prevent these players from taking up other football posts.
The 10 players were punished for allegedly taking cash from gambling brokers and offering to help throw matches in return, in the first match-throwing scandal in the league's history.
Kim Jung-kyum of the Pohang Steelers, the other player, was indicted for betting on his own team after receiving a tip from a player on the opposing team that match fixing would be in play. Kim received a five-year ban from the K-League.
"The K-League's penalty was confined to the professional league, and we decided to expand it to cover the entire sport," a KFA official said. "From now on, players involved in match fixing will be completely thrown out of the game."
Five other players are currently under arrest, and two players, including former national team forward Choi Sung-kuk, have come forward with their ties to match fixing schemes and are under investigation.
Players have until next Thursday to turn themselves in to the K-League in exchange for more lenient penalties.
The scandal came as the 16-team league struggles to fill the seats. The K-League's attendance has dropped in each of the past three seasons, while its rival league, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), has enjoyed record figures over the same period.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
Korea Football Association (KFA) said 10 of the 11 indicted K-Leaguers will be banned from playing in lower-tier and amateur leagues, and from becoming football coaches and players' agents.
On June 17, the 10 players received lifetime bans from the K-League after getting indicted for their connections with match-fixing schemes. It was the toughest penalty handed down in the league's 28-year history. The league had said then it would ask the KFA to prevent these players from taking up other football posts.
The 10 players were punished for allegedly taking cash from gambling brokers and offering to help throw matches in return, in the first match-throwing scandal in the league's history.
Kim Jung-kyum of the Pohang Steelers, the other player, was indicted for betting on his own team after receiving a tip from a player on the opposing team that match fixing would be in play. Kim received a five-year ban from the K-League.
"The K-League's penalty was confined to the professional league, and we decided to expand it to cover the entire sport," a KFA official said. "From now on, players involved in match fixing will be completely thrown out of the game."
Five other players are currently under arrest, and two players, including former national team forward Choi Sung-kuk, have come forward with their ties to match fixing schemes and are under investigation.
Players have until next Thursday to turn themselves in to the K-League in exchange for more lenient penalties.
The scandal came as the 16-team league struggles to fill the seats. The K-League's attendance has dropped in each of the past three seasons, while its rival league, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), has enjoyed record figures over the same period.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
