A coach and 11 players from Hong Kong’s top soccer team are among 23 arrested in a match-fixing corruption case, the local anti-corruption authority said today.
“This operation is the most important one carried out in recent years by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ICAC) in the fight against match-fixing. It also led to the largest number of arrests,” said the head of the ICAC Investigation Department, Keith Cheuk.
About 100 police officers are involved in the operation, during which the suspects are accused of corruption, match-fixing, and participation in illegal sweepstakes.
The name of the club in question has not been released, but local press speculates that the target is the historic Happy Valley, with multiple league titles in its more than 70 years of existence.
Corrupt officials will pay each athlete about 1200 euros per game.
“The question was not whether they played well, but whether they knew how to pretend. [o seu desempenho] or if they could help manipulate the results,” Cheuk said.
The official recalled that unlikely outcomes are best rewarded in bets, which some targets also made through nominees.
The amounts involved in the manipulation have not been disclosed, if only because the investigation is still ongoing.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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