South Korean prosecutors have indicted two baseball players for allegedly manipulating games for gambling purposes in what could be another blow to the reputation of the nation’s professional sports leagues.
Prosecutors in Changwon City yesterday said they believe pitcher Lee Tae-yang, a starter for NC Dinos in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), deliberately allowed first-inning walks and runs in two games last season after receiving 20 million won (US$17,500) from a gambling broker, who has been arrested.
Moon Woo-ram, an outfielder for South Korea’s military baseball team in the KBO’s second-tier competition, was also indicted for allegedly receiving 10 million won in cash and gifts from the broker for connecting him with Lee, according to a statement from the prosecutors’ office.
According to prosecutors, Lee and the broker colluded over four of Lee’s starts between May and September last year, and the pitcher successfully delivered in two of the games. Lee had promised to give up first-inning runs in a May 29 start against the KIA Tigers, when he ended up allowing five runs over four innings in a loss, and first-inning walks in an Aug. 6 start against the Lotte Giants, when he gave up two runs while lasting only three innings, prosecutors said.
The Changwon City-based Dinos issued an apology over the suspicions surrounding Lee, who has been left off the team’s active roster since June 28 for what the team had described as an elbow injury, and said it was taking steps to terminate his contract.
Lee, 23, enjoyed a breakout season for the Dinos last year, going 10-5 as a starter to help the team reach the playoffs. He was also part of the South Korea national team that won the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s inaugural Premier 12 tournament held in Taiwan and Japan in November last year. This season, Lee was 2-2 with a 4.21 ERA before the team shelved him.
Moon, 24, remains under contract with the Seoul-based Nexen Heroes and has been serving out his compulsory military service with the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps, whose baseball team competes in the KBO’s secondary Futures League.
If prosecutors prove the charges against the players in court, both Lee and Moon might be given lifetime bans from the KBO, which would also prevent them from playing professionally in the US, Japan and Taiwan based on agreements between the leagues, the KBO said.
South Korea’s major professional sports leagues, including baseball, soccer and basketball, have been rocked by match-fixing scandals in recent years that have led to jail sentences and lifetime bans of several players and coaches.
The KBO has permanently banned two pitchers from the Seoul-based LG Twins, who were convicted in 2012 for taking bribes from gambling brokers in exchange for deliberately walking batters.
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
RSS