Ex-national team footballer accused of linking brokers with players: prosecutors

CHANGWON, South Korea, June 5 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors investigating a widening football match-fixing scandal said Sunday that a former national team player helped gambling brokers get in touch with players to plot match-throwing schemes.
The prosecutors in this southeastern town, about 400 kilometers from Seoul, said Kim Dong-hyun, a midfielder for Sangju Sangmu Phoenix in the K-League, is accused of setting up a broker with a goalkeeper on Gwangju FC, also of the K-League. The broker was indicted last week and the player is under arrest, after the former allegedly paid the latter 100 million won (US$92,900), asking the player to help his team lose on purpose.
The prosecutors said Kim, who has appeared in six games for the national team, also introduced the same broker to another player for Daejeon Citizen, who was also arrested in connection with match fixing.
When Kim was approached by the broker for players on the Gwangju team, he got in touch with his former K-League teammate Jeong Jong-kwan, the prosecutors said. Jeong then introduced Kim to the Gwangju goalkeeper, who once played with Jeong on a different team.
Of the 100 million won paid by the broker, Kim and Jeong took 40 million won each, according to the prosecutors. Jeong was found dead on May 30 after an apparent suicide, and he left a note saying he was "ashamed" to have been a part of match fixing.
According to the prosecutors, the Gwangju goalkeeper offered the remaining 20 million won to his teammates to get them involved in match fixing but was rejected.
Two brokers were indicted last week, and five active players, including four from Daejeon, remain under arrest.
The ongoing scandal has dealt a severe blow to the nation's first-division football league, which has seen its attendance dwindle in recent years while baseball, its rival sport, has enjoyed record gate figures.