By Kim Rahn
An active professional baseball player said he was asked to participate in match fixing for an illegal gambling ring but refused.
Officials of the Nexen Heroes said Wednesday that pitcher Moon Sung-hyun received a proposal from one of his acquaintances to join the scam in 2010.
The testimony comes amid a snowballing scandal on the fixing of professional sports’ matches, which started with football and has expanded to volleyball, baseball and basketball.
“Moon said he turned down the request and that was the end of the story, stressing he was not involved in actual match rigging,” an official of the club said.
The 21-year-old revealed this to club officials during their offseason training in Arizona while the Heroes were figuring out whether anyone at the club was involved in the scheme.
“He said when he was given the offer, he neither knew about middlemen working for illegal gambling websites, nor was he told about financial compensation he would receive in return,” the club official said.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has asked each team to conduct internal investigations into the allegations.
An arrested gambling middleman reportedly gave prosecutors the names of two pitchers at a Seoul-based club involved in the match-fixing scheme. The prosecution has not confirmed the report, saying it needs to conduct further investigations.
The news has started a guessing game for bloggers and baseball fans as to who they are, with some players’ and their clubs names spreading online without the facts.
Even fake testimony is spreading: An unidentified man, who represented himself falsely as a former star player, said in an interview with a broadcaster that not only players but also coaches and gangsters were involved. The KBO has asked police to investigate the rumormonger.
The middleman, surnamed Kim who was arrested last year for his involvement in the football scam, said another arrested associate, Kang, was involved in match fixing in volleyball, baseball and basketball.
It is suspected that involved pitchers deliberately walked batters in the first inning, as gamblers bet on players reaching bases through balls thrown.
Prosecutors suspect there may be people who wagered money and offered cash to the involved players through the middlemen.
As baseball is the most popular sport here, attracting 6.8 million spectators last year, fans are expressing regret and disappointment.
“As a pro-baseball fan, the allegation is very regretful. The KBO should directly scrutinize all players in all teams. If suspicions are confirmed, the players involved should not only receive a lifetime ban from local baseball but also be banned from playing in foreign leagues such as the Major League,” a blogger, you6324, said on KBO’s online bulletin board.