Military football squad faces expulsion next season amid match fixing: official

SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- The military athletic squad in the country's top football league could be barred from competition next season amid the widening match-fixing scandal, a military official said Wednesday.
Sangju Sangmu Phoenix, a team made up of professional athletes doing their mandatory military service in football uniforms, has been hit the hardest by the first match-fixing controversy to rattle the K-League. Of 46 active or former K-Leaguers indicted earlier this month for their match-fixing ties, nine were from Sangmu, more than any other team. The team's head coach, surnamed Lee, was arrested Monday for allegedly taking cash from parents of a player in exchange for concealing the player's connection to match rigging.
"We're considering leaving Sangmu off the K-League next season," the official said. "But we're not looking into forcing Sangmu to stop accepting professional athletes all together."
Able-bodied South Korean men are conscripted to serve about two years in the armed forces. Professional athletes in football, baseball, volleyball and basketball can complete their service in sports uniforms. But athletes have to pass physical tests and meet other performance-related criteria to join Sangmu.
A K-League official said the league hasn't decided whether to force out Sangmu in 2012, and added, "We're not yet at a point where we have to come up with measures."
Another football official said if Sangmu players aren't able to compete in the K-League, they could enter semi-pro tournaments.
With their regular goalkeepers arrested or suspended on red cards, Sangmu was forced to put Lee Yoon-eui, a defender, in net in a 3-2 loss to FC Seoul last Saturday. There are currently 16 teams in the K-League, which was founded in 1983.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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