A file picture on picture Lee Sung-min [Yonhap News Photo]
Baseball club officials and players have been booked for their alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal, South Korean police announced on Monday.
The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency said two executives of the NC Dinos in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) were booked without physical detention on fraud charges in a match-fixing scandal that involves two active baseball players. This is the first time that club officials have been charged for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal.
According to the police, the Dinos' general manager and operation division chief didn't report to the KBO even after they found that their former pitcher Lee Sung-min was engaged in match fixing.
The police said they concealed Lee's wrongdoing to protect their club's public image. Instead, they leaked a false rumor about the right-hander, saying "he has good talent, but isn't serious about playing baseball and doesn't have a good relationship with coaching staff," the police investigation showed.
Lee, who joined the Dinos in 2013, was traded to the expansion club KT Wiz in 2015, and the Dinos received one billion won (876,570 US dollars) from the trade deal.
Lee, who is now with the Lotte Giants, is one of two active players who were booked for match fixing, along with Kia Tigers pitcher Yoo Chang-sik, the police said. Both players had deliberately walked a batter in 2014.
The police said Lee received three million won for deliberately allowing walks in the first inning of the game against the LG Twins on July 4.
The police added Yoo, who was then pitching for another club, the Hanwha Eagles, had issued a deliberate free pass in the top first against the Samsung Lions on April 1 and did the same against the Twins on April 19.
The 24-year-old southpaw received three million won from a broker for his deliberate walk, the police said. The broker, who is only identified by his surname Kim and is the older brother of the current KBO player, was also booked without physical detention.
"These players issued walks in the first inning on purpose, trying to deceive their manager and fans that they were not fully warmed up," the police said. "For fairness and sound sports spirit, we will continue to investigate match fixing and illegal gambling."
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
