Aljazeera – The growing interaction of Asia with the rest of the football world is overwhelmingly a good thing as the giant continent brings billions of fans, thousands of gifted players and growing economic might to the global table.
It’s not a complete positive however. There’s also the fact Asia has something of a reputation when it comes to match-fixing.
While leading football nations such as Germany and Italy have had their own problems, the south-eastern region of Asia is generally recognised as the continental and perhaps global hub of the dodgy practice. But even South Korea, home to Asia’s oldest professional league and one of its strongest, has had problems.
The 2011 match-fixing scandal saw almost 60 players and coaches, past and present, indicted on charges of rigging games. With suicides and government threats of a league shutdown if the situation was not placed under control, it was a dark time.
The issue is still being dealt with. Earlier in August, the Korea FA, under pressure from fans and media, intervened to stop a plan from the K-league to reduce the punishment handed out to a number of players.
“We need to be strict otherwise the players who have potential to commit these crimes don’t take it seriously,” Park Yong-soo, the head of the KFA’s International department, told Al Jazeera.
“The statutes that we have for punishing players have to be stricter.”
