SEOUL, South Korea — International striker Choi Sung-kuk's admission that he was offered money to fix matches prompted another wave of headlines and controversy Wednesday that has South Korean football authorities deeply concerned about the extent of corruption in Asia's oldest professional league.
Already 10 K-League players have been indicted in a match-fixing scandal that is getting deeper by the day. Choi, who has made 26 international appearances for South Korea, is easily the highest-profile player to be linked to the problem.
"We don't know how serious it is," Lee Kap-jin, a former Korea Football Association vice president and head of the KFA's newly-formed misconduct committee, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. "We don't know how deep and wide it goes but I think it will take a longtime to sort out.
"We only know what the prosecutors have found and the players who have come forward voluntary to confess."
South Korean prosecutors indicted 14 people earlier this month, including 10 K-League players. Eight of the players were contracted to Daejeon Citizen and allegedly took kickbacks from illegal gambling brokers to fix the outcome of games.
An eleventh allegedly bet on one of his own team's games after learning the outcome would be rigged.
A former K-League player, who allegedly worked as a broker, was found dead in an apparent suicide late last month.
Choi, nicknamed "Little Maradona," was questioned this week. He told prosecutors that in June 2010, he attended a meeting between players and gambling brokers while he was playing for military club Gwangju Sangmu, a team that has since relocated to Sangju. He has since moved to Suwon Bluewings.
According to Choi, he rejected an offer of money from then teammate Kim Dong-hyun — who was also at the meeting and has already been arrested by military prosecutors over the scandal.
Choi reportedly claimed that he told the club's coaching staff of the incident. The admissions come a month after Choi denied all claims that he was involved in match-fixing at an emergency workshop called by the K-League.
The KFA said that it was unable to comment on a specific case under investigation from prosecutors, but Lee said that the national league was determined to stamp out corruption.
"All of a sudden when supporters know about this, that even high-ranking players are involved, then you can't get the support of the fans," Lee said. "We will continue to move forward and take measures and clean football.
"We don't know how long it will take but we know it can't be done in a day."
Lee said the league had to investigation thoroughly, then devise ways to combat against future corruption. The overhaul could start as early as next week.
"And then our main job is how to make a systematic way to protect our players and take precautions and have a warning system," he said. "We have to focus on protection from outside threats and temptations.
"We need to continually train and educate our people — from the youngsters up to the professionals. It is a big job for the KFA. The committee will forward proposals to the KFA to deal with the situation next week."
Choi's admission came days after a goalkeeper with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors acknowledged his involvement in the scandal, but had his name withheld by investigators. South Korean media identified the player as Yeom Dong-gyun, who had played for South Korea's under-23 team and had been a back-up for the full national side.
Investigations have been focusing on League Cup games in 2011 but Choi's allegations that match-fixing was taking place in the same competition a year earlier is a further blow to the K-League's reputation.
"It's hard to predict about the effects on the K-League's reputation," Lee said. "It is a long-term battle and we will continue our march. We would like to get some fans involved, as without their help, we can't find the professional gamblers at the stadium and find the 'eyes' who are supervising in the stadiums. We also need to find the international connection. As far as we know, it doesn't just come from Korea but China and southeast Asia."
The scandal does not seem to have caused a backlash from fans or sponsors, yet. The K-league's main sponsor is Hyundai Oilbank, a subsidiary of Hyundai, a conglomerate that has provided many of the nation's top football officials and one with close links to Korean football.
"Fans are frustrated but optimistic. It sounds strange but that's the current situation here," football commentator for MBC TV Seo Hyung-wook told The AP. "There is a sense that a corner may have been turned but most fans don't understand how bad it is. People still support and believe their players and clubs.
"Korean people tend to be familiar with scandals. These days, people are less surprised compared with when the scandal was first exposed."
But Seo said severe punishments were needed as deterrent for match fixing because "there is a danger that people feel that the storm has passed and most footballers involved in this match-fixing don't feel guilty, but unlucky."