The Hong Kong Football Association will seek the ICAC's assistance in investigating alleged match fixing in last week's First Division soccer match between Tuen Mun Progoal and Happy Valley.
At the end of a two-hour special board meeting yesterday, HKFA chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak said the association had found no evidence of match fixing after reviewing video footage of the match - in which Happy Valley scored four goals in the final seven minutes to win 5-1.
But the media reports of match fixing prompted the association to turn to the ICAC for further investigation.
'It is difficult for us to judge whether any Progoal player was involved in match fixing at this stage,' said Mr Leung. 'We simply do not have any evidence, as there have only been reports from the media saying an unnamed player was approached by football betting syndicates to throw away matches.
'Since the incident has caught a huge amount of public attention, we will seek assistance from law enforcement authorities [the Independent Commission Against Corruption] to carry out the necessary investigation. And this will start as soon as possible.'
The association could still punish players and their respective clubs for poor sportsmanship if they were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.
'We found some Progoal players were just standing there towards the final stages of the match and, according to Fifa rules, we can investigate this matter,' he said.