Soccer match-fix swoop by ICAC
A member of Hong Kong's under-21 soccer team has been arrested and others are under investigation in a major crackdown by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on match-fixing.
Last night, Iu Wai was still being questioned after anti-graft investigators staged an unprecedented raid on Tuesday night's under-21 international between Hong Kong and Russia at Mong Kok Stadium.
A complaint that players had been approached to throw the match triggered the swoop by 30 officers.
Iu, a 20-year-old substitute who plays for local club Hong Kong Sapling, was later arrested.
Last year, Iu was arrested but not charged in a connection with a soccer bribery court case when mainlander Yu Yang was found guilty of trying to fix a First Division match between Happy Valley and Fourway Rangers. Yu was jailed for 10 months.
The ICAC's investigation on Tuesday night was triggered by complaints made by some of Iu's teammates.
All the players that were approached turned down the alleged offer made by Iu and immediately reported the incident to team management.
'The arrested footballer had allegedly attempted to offer monetary advantages to those teammates as rewards for their help,' an ICAC spokesman said.
'The investigation revealed that those players who were approached by the arrested footballer rejected all the latter's requests. Further inquiries are continuing.'
The Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) said it had given the ICAC its full co-operation in the inquiry.
'It is very disappointing that this has happened, but we are very happy that none of the other players took up the arrested player's offer,' an HKFA spokesman said. 'This proves that our squad did not want to be involved in any kind of corruption.'
However, there could be wider implications. A person familiar with the case said that it raised other questions because Iu was a member of Hong Kong Sapling, which mainly comprised Hong Kong under-21 team members and was established by the football association as a development team to train for the 2013 East Asia Games. The team lies bottom of the Hong Kong First Division, with no points after five games played, 21 goals conceded and only one scored.
Rumours have been circulating in local soccer circles that Hong Kong Sapling is also under investigation by the ICAC, and the fact that one of its players was allegedly behind this attempt at match-fixing has only fuelled speculation. The club has denied it is under investigation.
'I'm disappointed at what has happened, but I have warned my players not to get involved in any illegal behaviour, and I'm satisfied that they will not,' said Philip Lee Fai-lap, Sapling's team manager.
The person familiar with the case also alleged Iu approached at least four or five teammates to fix the match, and that he attempted to offer tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars to each of them.
A mother of one of the Hong Kong squad members said the players had no idea they were going to be questioned by the ICAC after Tuesday's night's match and that it had come as a shock to them all.
