Bribes bid admitted by soccer player
A young Hong Kong soccer player yesterday admitted that he tried to bribe his teammates to fix a showpiece international friendly match, reversing an earlier plea of not guilty he made after his arrest.
Iu Wai, 20, an up-and-coming defender for Hong Kong Sapling Football Club who also turns out for Hong Kong's under-21 side, was remanded in custody after pleading guilty at Kowloon City Court to two counts of offering an advantage.
Iu was arrested when ICAC investigators staged an unprecedented raid on a friendly youth match between Hong Kong and Russia, attended by 5,000 spectators, at Mong Kok Stadium on November 5. The Russians won 2-1.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption raid was not only a blow to the already battered reputation of soccer in the city, but led to an important government public relations coup backfiring spectacularly.
The international match at the centre of the investigation was arranged in April during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Hong Kong, when Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen invited Russia's youth squad to play in the city, and initiated an exchange opportunity for young players.
Yesterday in court, Iu admitted that he approached teammate Chan Cham-hei, a defender, and Chiu Yu-ming, a goalkeeper, to throw the match in return for several tens of thousands of dollars. The two turned down his requests and called the ICAC.
Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen adjourned sentencing until December 30, pending a background report, detention centre report and training centre report on Iu.
The court heard that in November Iu was approached by a man, whom he referred to as 'Ah Liu', in Shenzhen to bribe Hong Kong youth representative team players to fix the match.
Iu set out to lure Chan and Chiu during a four-day residential training camp days before the match.
Last year, Iu was arrested but not charged when mainlander Yu Yang was jailed for 10 months for trying to fix a First Division match between Happy Valley and Fourway Rangers.
Philip Lee Fai-lap, Sapling's team manager, said: 'Iu is foolish to have made the mistake. His career as a football player has just started but it's likely that it's reaching the end.'
Lee said Iu was likely to receive a life suspension from the game.
'But we have to appreciate kids do make mistakes. He is going to be punished by law. The next thing the club will do is to give him a helping hand.' Lee said.
He said the club would remind its members to always stay clean and abide by the law, adding that the scandal had had a huge impact on the club's reputation.
The Hong Kong Football Association declined to comment.
Timothy Tong Hin-ming, the ICAC commissioner, said the commission completed the investigation and prosecution of Iu within a month of receiving the report.
In the first 11 months of this year, the ICAC received 31 bribery complaints regarding sport and recreational activities, compared with about 20 last year, Tong said on the sidelines of an ICAC seminar.
