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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors said Thursday they've indicted 46 more footballers for alleged involvement in a widening match-fixing scandal.
The players from six different teams allegedly took bribes in return for trying to fix the results of games or bet on games after learning their outcome would be rigged, prosecutors said in a statement.
Prosecutors have found the outcomes of 15 K-League games last year were rigged and they will continue to investigate to find out if more games were fixed, the prosecution office in the southeastern city of Changwon said.
Eleven non-players — including illegal gambling brokers and members of organized crime groups — were also indicted over the scandal, officials said.
The latest indictments add to a group of at least 14 — including 10 K-League players — who were already indicted last month over similar allegations, prosecution spokesman Kwak Kyu-hong said.
The match-fixing scandal has rocked the 28-year-old K-League — Asia's oldest professional football league — with government officials threatening to shut teams down if more are found to have been involved in match fixing. A former K-League midfielder, who allegedly worked as a broker, was found dead in an apparent suicide in late May.
The highest-profile player involved in the scandal is Suwon Bluewings' striker Choi Sung-kuk, who has appeared in 26 international matches for South Korea.
Choi, who joined Suwon this year from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, had acknowledged attending a meeting between players and gambling brokers but insisted he rejected bribe offers. Still, prosecutors indicted Choi because he later told investigators he accepted the bribes before returning them, Kwak said.
Yonhap news agency said Choi took 4 million won ($3,760) in return for helping fix the result of a game last year. It said other indicted players received kickbacks ranging from 3 million won ($2,820) to 31 million won ($29,140).
Another top indicted player is Kim Dong-hyun of military club Sangju Sangmu, who had six appearances for the national team. Yonhap reported Kim was allegedly involved in plots to fix the results of eight K-League games and allegedly earned 400 million won ($376,050) illicitly by betting on games.
Eight of Kim's colleagues at Sangju Sangmu were indicted along with him over the scandal, the prosecution statement said.
Officials said no current national team members were indicted.
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The players from six different teams allegedly took bribes in return for trying to fix the results of games or bet on games after learning their outcome would be rigged, prosecutors said in a statement.
Prosecutors have found the outcomes of 15 K-League games last year were rigged and they will continue to investigate to find out if more games were fixed, the prosecution office in the southeastern city of Changwon said.
Eleven non-players — including illegal gambling brokers and members of organized crime groups — were also indicted over the scandal, officials said.
The latest indictments add to a group of at least 14 — including 10 K-League players — who were already indicted last month over similar allegations, prosecution spokesman Kwak Kyu-hong said.
The match-fixing scandal has rocked the 28-year-old K-League — Asia's oldest professional football league — with government officials threatening to shut teams down if more are found to have been involved in match fixing. A former K-League midfielder, who allegedly worked as a broker, was found dead in an apparent suicide in late May.
The highest-profile player involved in the scandal is Suwon Bluewings' striker Choi Sung-kuk, who has appeared in 26 international matches for South Korea.
Choi, who joined Suwon this year from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, had acknowledged attending a meeting between players and gambling brokers but insisted he rejected bribe offers. Still, prosecutors indicted Choi because he later told investigators he accepted the bribes before returning them, Kwak said.
Yonhap news agency said Choi took 4 million won ($3,760) in return for helping fix the result of a game last year. It said other indicted players received kickbacks ranging from 3 million won ($2,820) to 31 million won ($29,140).
Another top indicted player is Kim Dong-hyun of military club Sangju Sangmu, who had six appearances for the national team. Yonhap reported Kim was allegedly involved in plots to fix the results of eight K-League games and allegedly earned 400 million won ($376,050) illicitly by betting on games.
Eight of Kim's colleagues at Sangju Sangmu were indicted along with him over the scandal, the prosecution statement said.
Officials said no current national team members were indicted.
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