27 indicted for engaging in match rigging

By Na Jeong-ju, Lee Hyo-sik

The prosecution said Wednesday it has indicted 27 people, including 16 professional volleyball and two baseball players, for engaging in match fixing.

Announcing the results of its months-long probe into the fixing scandal, the prosecution said the results of 18 volleyball matches and five baseball matches were rigged from 2010 to 2011. The players received 1.5 to 5 million won per fixed match from illicit sports betting sites.

The suspected volleyball players belonged to Suwon KEPCO 45 and Sangmu Shinhyup in the men’s league and Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders in the women’s league. The two baseball players are Park Hyun-jun, a pitcher for the LG Twins, and Kim Seong-hyun, a Nexen Heroes pitcher.

Prosecutors indicted and detained 11, while indicting 16 without physical detention. In addition, four athletes belonging to military sports teams were transferred to the military police for prosecution.

Many of the players have already been expelled from their teams and received lifetime bans from sports governing bodies.

“We found that betting agencies had maintained close relationships with players to arrange the match fixing. Some operators of the agencies bet their own money on matches to make huge illegal gains,” said prosecutor Park Eun-seok from the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office. “Players also received money in return for their collusion.”

Middlemen lured professional athletes into a game-rigging scheme by promising them handsome payouts, Park said.

``Athletes fixed games under the instruction of middlemen who placed bets at illicit gambling websites, realizing illegal gains. Parts of profits were paid to participating athletes in return for manipulating match outcomes,’’ he said.

There have been allegations that criminal gangs were also involved. Park, however, said there is as of yet no evidence backing the suspicion.

According to the Korea Institute of Criminology, about 1,000 illicit sports gambling sites were in operation as of June last year. The illegal gambling market was valued at an estimated 3 trillion won in 2010.

The match-rigging scandal involving professional sports became public last year when a group of football players were found to have colluded with illicit gambling sites to fix matches.

It came to the public’s attention again this year when two volleyball players were arrested on charges of taking bribes from betting agencies. The probe expanded to include baseball and other sports.