Happy Valley soccer players plead not guilty to match-fixing charges
Match-fixing trial of two players and official will see association chief called as witness
Two former Happy Valley players and a former team official allegedly involved in match-fixing all pleaded not guilty in Eastern Court yesterday.
Fan Weijun, 35, a former assistant coach and player from the mainland, and Sasa Mus, 27, a former player from Croatia, are charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud.
The team's former deputy team manager Hinson Leung, 26, faces one count of betting with a bookmaker, contrary to Section 8 of the Gambling Ordinance. Leung allegedly placed bets through a bookmaking site on the First Division match between Happy Valley and Sun Hei on January 5, which his team lost 5-0.
The charge was read to Mus in Croatian, and to Fan in Putonghua. Mus is alleged to have conspired with Leung and others to defraud the club and the Hong Kong Football Association by "dishonestly not playing to his best abilities" in a First Division match against Royal Southern on November 30 last year, when Happy Valley lost 4-2.
Fan faced the same charge, which involves a Senior Shield match against Sun Pegasus on December 8 last year. In that game, Happy Valley lost 1-0.
Numerous witnesses are expected to be called. Among them are the association's chief executive Mark Sutcliffe and Happy Valley Athletic Association chairman Pui Kwan-kei.
The prosecution demanded that travel restrictions be placed on the two players due to the serious nature of the offence.