K-league extends 'plea bargain' deadline
Reuters - Monday 13 June 2011, 14:22
SEOUL - South Korea's professional football league will extend its two-week 'plea bargain' window for
players to confess to match-fixing, local media reported on
Monday.
Battling an embarrassing scandal in which 10 players have
been arrested for alleged involvement in match-fixing, K-League
officials have yet to decide when the window will close.
"The deadline was set for today, but team representatives
have agreed to extend it," the K-League told South Korea's
Yonhap news agency.
"We promised to keep all related information confidential,
so we can't say how many players have approached us. It's still
inadequate, but it's progress."
The K-League's match-fixing probe has so far caught 10
active players along with gambling brokers, with those found
guilty facing life-time bans and up to seven years in jail.
The players caught so far have been charged with taking
money in exchange for helping their teams lose two matches in
April, prosecutors said.
Eight of them are from the Daejeon Citizen team, with one
player accused of receiving 120 million won ($110,600) and also
sharing it with seven team mates.
A player was also found dead last month in a hotel room,
with Yonhap reporting a suicide note had been discovered
referring to the match-fixing ring.
The league has ordered players to report their involvement
in return for reduced punishments for those who turn themselves
in.
State-run sports bookmaker Sports Toto has stopped taking
bets on games at the request of K-League club owners, while the
government has threatened to terminate funding for sports
leagues tainted by match-fixing.