On Wednesday, authorities indicted ten Korean football officials for allegedly accepting bribes. They include the former President of the Ansan Greeners Lee Jong-geol, former Greeners manager Lim Jong-heon, and former national football team assistant coach Choi Tae-uk.
Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office indicted Lim and an agent surnamed Choi, who are currently in jail. Also, there were six more officials who faced charges in addition to Choi Tae-uk and Lee. However, they remain out of jail as of this writing.
According to sports betting tutorials and news sites, Choi Tae-uk is a coach who used to be a football player. He was an assistant coach for the national team from 2018 to 2022 under former national team manager Paulo Bento. Also, he was part of the 2002 World Cup roster.
Several Korean Football Officials Charged with Bribery
Choi is suspected of conspiring with an agent, also called Choi, to pay off Lim and Lee, the football team owners for whom Choi Tae-uk played, to the tune of 20 million won ($15,000). The identity of the football player engaged in the event remains unknown.
According to online soccer betting experts, the prosecution claims that Lee accepted a 50 million won Mercedes-Benz, a Rolex watch, and 27 million won in cash from agent Choi and the parents of two other players in exchange for facilitating their recruitment by the club. To install Lim as manager, Lee is said to have accepted a bribe of 9 million won.
Aside from bribing a football player’s father out of 60 million won, Lim also negotiated the admission of another player with agent Choi for 45 million won. The allegations against Agent Choi’s alleged bribe-giving activities continue.
From 2017 to 2018, Choi allegedly paid a former university football team manager 60 million won to broker the signings of several players with professional teams. At the same time, he paid 20 million won to a former professional team assistant coach surnamed Shin to guarantee the signing of a third player. Prosecutors claim that Choi paid bribes to several government officials amounting to 129 million won. People who bet on football in Korea are keeping a close eye on the allegations.
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