Hong Kong ICAC Arrests 23 People Including Footballers and Coach for Suspected Involvement in Match Fixing

The ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) said it had smashed a betting syndicate that took bribes in the Hong Kong First Division Football League and arrested 23 people, including players and coaching staff of a local team. The ICAC held a press conference on May 16 to give more details about the case. Kate Cheuk Chi-yan, Chief Investigator of the ICAC’s Operations Department, said that the agency launched “Operation Green Grass” on May 15, mobilizing nearly 100 people to smash a “match-fixing” corruption syndicate involving illegal off-field gambling. Cheuk pointed out that the group was suspected of using corruption and bribery to manipulate the performance and results of a football team in the league, to profit from off-course betting. According to the ICAC, the arrested persons included 22 men and one woman, aged between 25 and 36, including the syndicate’s mastermind and core members, a team coach, 11 players, and several “boat boys (middlemen).” It is suspected that they cheated collectively throughout the 2022-23 season. Each participating player will receive a few thousand dollars in bribes for each game. It could go up to HK$9,000 to 10,000 (US$1,100 to US$1,300) depending on “how well” the player performs (co-operates). Case Exposed from Other Corruption Reports Cheuk pointed out that by controlling the team, the group bets on underdogs and high-odds results. In addition to match-fixing, the players will bet to obtain “double profits.” The current case started from another corruption report against a team player. After a year of intelligence, data collection, and fact-finding, the ICAC realized that half of this team’s members participated in the “match-fixing.” She described the situation as worrying and heartbreaking. Allen Leung Wing-hang, Chief Investigation Officer of the ICAC’s Operations Department, said that players would either “play half-heartedly” or “play passively” just to lose to the weaker sides and sometimes even manipulate the score. It is more likely that with the game’s progress, the strategy will be adjusted depending on the odds of the external websites. Also, coaches or players have various ways to communicate the cipher signals, such as raising or lowering the socks, taking off or putting on or taking off a sweater, and other actions to communicate with the “middlemen” in attendance, to instruct the relevant players to create the appropriate score and get a bigger profit. Leung also pointed out that the team under investigation played 26 games, 18 of which were either losses or draws, with plenty of suspicious match-fixing acts and obvious abnormal errors. The ICAC said it is still investigating the number of games and the total amount of bribes involved in the case. The ICAC also pointed out that as the investigation is still ongoing so the name of the team involved will not be disclosed. However, several media outlets quoted sources and reported that the team involved is Happy Valley, one of the vintage local football clubs. Happy Valley plays in the HKFA first division. In addition, when the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) Chairperson Pui Kwan-kay was asked by reporters today, he said that there is no further information at this stage, so it is not appropriate for him to respond. He felt “regret” about the incident. He also emphasized that the HKFA always adopted a “zero-tolerance” attitude towards “match-fixing” and supported all actions to eradicate it. He also said that for many years in the “crackdown on match-fixing” cases, there were always just a few players convicted, while the masterminds and core planners behind the scenes remained at large so that no doubt would lead to the situation of a “never-ending” saga.