Ex-Korea international Jang gets life ban for match-fixing

Ex-South Korea international Jang Hak-yong has received a lifetime ban from the Korea Football Association (KFA) after an attempt to fix a domestic league game.

Jang, a left-back who played five times for South Korea and more than 300 domestic games before he retired in 2017, was arrested in September and sentenced to 10 months in jail. After Jang’s release he will be barred from participating in any soccer-related activities.

The 37-year-old Jang met Lee Han-saem, a player with Asan Mugunghwa in the second division of the K-League, in September. He was found guilty of offering Lee 50 million won (USD44,300) to receive a red card within the first 20 minutes of a game against Busan I’Park on Sept.22.

Lee refused, informed the authorities and Jang was subsequently arrested. Lee received a reward of 70 million won ($62,000) from the KFA, which announced the sanction for Jang on Monday.

Korean soccer is still recovering from a damaging match-fixing scandal during the 2011 K-League season that involved more than 50 players or former players.

Other sports have been caught up in corruption. In 2016 police charged 21 people, including two pitchers, involved in South Korea’s professional baseball league. There have also been issues in the volleyball league with four players banned for life in 2012.  AP