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Soccer players held in ICAC match-fix probe

Soccer players from the mainland playing for First Division clubs in Hong Kong have been arrested by the ICAC for alleged bribery and match-fixing.

Officers from the Independent Commission Against Corruption visited several local clubs during the investigation.

Happy Valley and Fourway Rangers were among those approached. At least three mainland players were arrested, insiders from the local soccer community said.

One of the players arrested was stopped when he was leaving Hong Kong at a ferry pier.

The insiders said the mainland players in the case were asked by mainland gambling syndicates to bribe Fourway Rangers players to fix a match in October last year between their club and Happy Valley.

But the players refused to take the bribe and reported the case to the Football Association. The ICAC also received a report.

An official from the Happy Valley club confirmed a mainland player had been invited to take part in the investigation by the ICAC yesterday. Two former players from the mainland working for the club were also involved in the investigation.

Their contracts had been terminated earlier.

A Football Association spokesman said the ICAC had not approached the association yesterday, and he had no further details on the case.

A spokeswoman for the ICAC said last night she would not comment on the case.

Betting on local soccer matches has never caught on in the city, but underground betting on Hong Kong first division matches has been popular on the mainland, where millions of yuan can be wagered on a single match.

A previous incident suspected to have involved match-fixing by mainland players occurred on March 31 last year when former Hong Kong first division club Tuen Mun Progoal were leading Happy Valley 1-0 at half-time.

But they conceded five goals in the second period - four in the last seven minutes - as Valley went on to win the match 5-1.

Allegations of match-fixing surfaced after a Progoal player wrote in his blog that his mainland teammates had thrown the match for money.

The Football Association said later it would seek assistance from the ICAC to find out if any Progoal players had been involved in match-fixing.

In June 1998, six players from the Hong Kong team were arrested by the ICAC for taking bribes and fixing matches during qualification games for the 1998 World Cup.

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