SEOUL, July 8 (Reuters) - South Korean prosecutors have arrested almost 50 more players in connection with a match-fixing scandal that has rocked professional soccer in the country and threatens to leave several teams short-handed this weekend.
Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office revealed 46 players, including nine from South Korea’s military side Sangmu Phoenix, were charged on Thursday in relation to the attempted fixing of 15 matches from June to October last year.
Prosecutors also charged 11 brokers, including several former players, with match-fixing.
A K-League crackdown has already resulted in 10 players —eight from the Daejon Citizen club alone—being booted out of the sport for accepting cash in return for helping to throw matches, while another has been banned for five years.
“We’ve confirmed so far that a wide range of players, not just reserve players but players who are on the national team and highly paid players, have been involved,” Changwon’s lead prosecutor said in a televised statement.
The league is expected to convene a meeting to discuss the latest arrests, which have thrown the 28-year-old league into chaos.
Local media reported that several teams could struggle to field teams for the weekend’s matches due to the arrests.
One of the highest profile players to be detained in the ongoing investigation is South Korea international Choi Sung-kuk, who came forward under a K-League amnesty that offered reduced penalties and ended on July 7.
A player was also found dead in a hotel room with media reporting a suicide note was found at the scene linked to the match-fixing saga.
South Korea’s government has also threatened to “shut down” the country’s professional soccer league after losing patience with the embarrassing scandal.
The state-run sports bookmaker, Sports Toyo, has been prevented from taking bets on games since the corruption scandal broke.
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