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Ex-South Korea player admits match-fixing

Another South Korean footballer has admitted involvement in match-fixing, an official said Wednesday, joining other players ensnared in a scandal that has rattled the professional K-League.

Choi Sung-Kuk, a former national team forward, admitted his involvement in throwing games while playing for a military soccer team last year, said Ahn Ki-Heon, the K-League secretary-general.

He made his initial admission to the league, which turned the case over to state prosecutors.

‘The prosecutors wrapped up investigations on him... we don’t know the result yet,’ Ahn told AFP without elaborating.

Kim Dong-Hyun, one of the players recently charged with fixing matches, dragged Choi to meetings with other players to plot match-throwing attempts last year, Yonhap news agency reported.

It said Choi at the time refused to accept cash offered by Kim, also a military team player.

The 28-year-old Choi, now with Suwon Samsung Bluewings, is the highest-profile player to be implicated. He played in 26 international matches and also starred in the under-19 and under-23 national teams.

He is the second known player to turn himself in after league officials on June 1 urged players to come forward in return for lenient penalties.

An unidentified goalkeeper, previously part of South Korea’s national squad, has also done so.

State prosecutors in the southeastern city of Changwon have so far charged 10 current K-League players with throwing matches in April, while another was charged by military prosecutors.

Ten of the 11 have received a lifetime ban from the K-League, which says it will rescind the penalty if they are found not guilty in criminal court.

The players are accused of taking money from gambling brokers in return for allowing their teams to lose.