Bosses deny Hong Kong football has corruption issue, player says it happens ‘a lot’

On Wednesday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption [ICAC] arrested 12 players and coaches on charges of manipulating performances and results, to gain from bets placed with illegal bookmakers.

Matches in the 2023-24 Hong Kong Premier League were allegedly rigged, with three of the men arrested belonging to a team in the division, believed to be North District.

But three separate club owners have insisted the local league was clean compared to some of the issues experienced across the border, where the former Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan was jailed for life in March for bribery.

“I don’t think Hong Kong football has that kind of corruption,” one said. “The nature of Hong Kong is entirely different from [mainland] China, where corruption is industry standard.

“If you want a particular position, you pay a certain amount of money. It has become the norm, it is very lucky Hong Kong is not like that.”

In February, the ICAC charged three players and one betting agent with bribing players from three clubs to manipulate results in the HKPL, and Hong Kong First Division, between 2021 and 2023, with the purpose of allowing syndicate members to profit from illegal gambling.

Last year, 23 people, including a coach and 11 players from one team, were arrested for allegedly accepting bribes to fix matches, and gain from illegal gambling.

Jean Jacques-Kilama, the BC Rangers and former Hong Kong defender, blew the whistle on match-fixing in 2009, after being asked by former teammate Yu Yang to “score an own goal, or concede a penalty”, in a game for Rangers against Happy Valley.

Kilama rejected the approach, and reported it to the ICAC. Yu consequently served 10 months in jail.

The 38-year-old Kilama is convinced top-flight matches remain breeding grounds for corruption.

“Players have so little money, so, of course, a lot of match-fixing is still happening,” he told the Post. “Hong Kong does not make you feel like a professional footballer, you are playing the same game as everyone else, but that is it.

“The FA takes money from sponsors, and does not care about the players, in my opinion. Many players are full of frustration. They are not angry if they lose.

“I came here in 2007, nothing has changed, and it never will unless the entire federation is replaced: the president and all the officials. It is called the Premier League, but for me it is nothing.

“You sleep at home before matches, the club does not know what you are doing. Some players come to training after no sleep, smelling of alcohol from drinking all night. The wages are HK$3,000-HK$4,000 (US$383-US$511) per month. For some games, the win bonus is HK$1,000, for a draw it is HK$500.

“This is people’s lives, they need to earn money. That is why, in Hong Kong, they catch people selling games. You see some games, the result is so bad, you do not understand it. You think something happened: gambling.”

Mark Sutcliffe was CEO of the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, for six years from September 2012. He told the Post match-fixing, coupled with low-quality football, was the major barrier to delivering a Premier League that attracted sponsors and supporters.

“Nobody wants to watch or be associated with poor quality football, especially if they think the result is predetermined,” Sutcliffe said. “It’s a vicious circle, poor quality players means fewer supporters, so less gate money, and exposure. That leads to less sponsorship, and fewer resources, and so it goes on.”

Asked how Hong Kong football could rid itself of match-fixing, Sutcliffe said: “With great difficulty, it seems to be endemic. It would need a confluence of many factors, including player education and welfare, better monitoring, lifetime bans, and improved player wages.”

Gambling on football in the city is prohibited, although in 2003 the government permitted the Jockey Club to open markets on overseas matches.

Responding to Chan’s suggestion, the government’s Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for gambling laws, said betting was not allowed “to prevent match-fixing” and because there was not “a large and persistent demand for betting on such matches”.