(Image source: Hong Kong Football Association)
BY NICK GERHARDT
ANCHOR AUSTIN KIM
You're watching a multisource sports news analysis from Newsy.
A new scandal for FIFA -- and this one has landed a lifetime ban for 10 Korean footballers.
How serious is the crisis?
FIFA has teamed up with Interpol to address allegations of match-fixing. INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald Noble says corruption has worked its way onto the pitch.
“Sports in general, but football in particular--as it is the worlds most popular sport--is threatened by illegal betting and match fixing. Not only does match fixing rob football of the core values which make it so popular and unique, but along with illegal betting it poses a threat to our citizens safety, as these illegal operations are often controlled by transnational organized crime groups.”
In Korea one player even took his life--found dead in a hotel room after learning of the investigation. Nearby... a suicide note.
According to the ESPN, an unidentified goalkeeper, believed to be a former national team player, handed himself in. International Choi Sung-kuk also came forward willingly--in exchange for reduced penalties. Yahoo reports gambling sites run by crime syndicates are to blame.
“Players are exposed to growing temptation because the country’s illicit online gambling sites, many of them operated by crime rings in South Korea and China, have been growing exponentially.”
Domestic match fixing is one thing. But FIFA has also launched a probe into last year’s World Cup friendlies in South Africa, Sowetan Live reported Thursday. According to the report, penalties played a deciding role in Bafana Bafana’s matches against Colombia and Guatemala
“South Africa's friendly against Colombia....was the first game at Johannesburg's newly finished Soccer City stadium, the venue for the World Cup final. The hosts won 2-1 with all the goals coming from penalties. One of them was also ordered to be retaken. One of the penalties in the South Africa-Guatemala match was awarded after the ball hit a player well outside the penalty area. No players have been accused of wrongdoing.”
The Sowetan report says “damaging investigations” have also begun in Finland, Italy and Greece. USA Today also reports, police in Israel arrested the owners and former coach of topflight team Hapoel Petah Tikva.
Back east, the South Korean government pledged to shut down the country’s professional soccer league if match fixing continues, USA Today reports.
Transcript by Newsy.
