By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – South Korea is pledging to crack down even more forcefully on match fixing, including harsh prison terms, as a reaction to a number of incidents that have plunged the country’s football league into crisis.
So far, nearly 80 current or retired players and officials have either been charged or convicted of match fixing, while the 29-year-old K-League has had 50 players banned for life.
One player even committed suicide.
Other sports have since been implicated, most notably volleyball, with 15 players probed for alleged match rigging.
Baseball and basketball are also under suspicion and Government appointed supervisors will monitor professional sports to crack down on illegal betting sites.
“We believe the recent turn of events has created a state of emergency that threatens to shake the foundation of sports,” Choe Kwang-shik (pictured), Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told a news conference.
“Match fixing is not just a problem for some sports but an outright criminal act that turns the whole world of sports into an act of fraud against the people.
“To root this out, it’s important for the Government, relevant agencies, players and coaches to have the will and determination to act.”
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