Hong Kong Football Match-Fixing Scandal: 11 Players and Coach Arrested for Arranging Fixtures for Profit

[Voice of Hope, May 18, 2023](comprehensive report by our reporter Ye Ting) Eleven players and a coach of a top-flight team in Hong Kong have been arrested on charges of arranging match-fixing for profit in a massive match-fixing scandal, Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency said on Tuesday.

The Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC, ICAC) held a press conference on May 16, announcing that it had launched an operation called “Bicao” recently (May 15) to disrupt an illegal peripheral gambling “fake wave (ball)” Corruption group.

The ICAC mobilized nearly 100 officials that day and arrested 23 people involved in the case, including 1 coach, 11 players and outside bettors commonly known as “boat boys (junkers)”, including 22 men and 1 woman, aged between Almost between 25 and 36 years old.

According to ICAC officials, this operation is ICAC’s largest operation against match-fixing in recent years, and it is also the one with the largest number of arrests. Zhuo Zhixin, Chief Investigation Officer of the Executive Office of the ICAC, said at a press conference that these people were involved in corruption, manipulating results and illegal betting.

It is reported that the case stems from a corruption report against a player of the team involved in the case. After investigation by the ICAC, it was found that more than half of the players of the relevant team were involved in the “crackdown on counterfeiting” of bribery in the 2022/23 season, that is, last October.

“Ming Pao” quoted Liang Yingxing, Chief Investigation Officer of the ICAC’s Executive Office, as saying that the players of the team involved in the case would deliberately “splash water”, play passively, and deliberately lose to weaker teams; bet. The coach and peripheral “boys” will further control the game process depending on the real-time odds changes during the game.

After the game, the players will be rewarded for their performance in the game of “cracking fake waves”. Afterwards, they will be “rewarded for their merits”. Players can receive thousands to 10,000 Hong Kong dollars in bribes per game. double gain”. It is reported that most of the 11 players arrested were the team’s first draft. The investigation found that this incident does not involve the underworld for the time being, and it is believed to be the work of the “Peripheral Wave (Ball)” group.

ICAC investigators pointed out that the team involved is one of 14 teams in the top league. It has won 8 games in 26 games and is currently ranked tenth in the league.

According to local media reports, the team involved in the case is the Hong Kong First Division League club Yuyuan, which is a club with a long history and has won many league championships in its more than 70-year history.

The team concerned lost or drew 18 of the 26 games in the First Division this season, many of which were suspected of fraud. The ICAC is investigating the number of games involved and the total amount of bribes involved in the case.

Editor in charge: Lin Li

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