not match-fixing but "spiritual breakdown"

[wit]

From the SCMP:

First Division soccer club Tuen Mun Progoal says it has found no evidence to support allegations that some of its players threw a match against Happy Valley last month.

Club director Yam Wai-hung said there were two possible explanations for the loss of several goals in the closing stages of a match the team had earlier been winning, one of which was match-fixing.

But he said in a 12-page report submitted yesterday to the association the club’s investigation had found no evidence of this.

The second possibility was that players had suffered a "spiritual breakdown" after a red card had been issued to one of them in the second half and had lacked the strength to play normally.

In the match on March 31, Tuen Mun Progoal were leading Happy Valley 1-0 at half-time, but conceded five goals in the second period – four in the last seven minutes – as Valley went on to win the league match 5-1.

Allegations of match-fixing surfaced after Progoal player Cheung Tin-tak wrote in his blog that his mainland teammates had thrown away the match for money.

……..Mr Yam, who led the club’s investigation, said the turning point of the match was the red card, after which the team lost its "spiritual prop".

The players had also lost all their physical strength and the passion to fight, Mr Yam said in the report.

"It was not incomprehensible to see an even worse performance from the team, and this was not illogical," Mr Yam said.

He admitted it was not an independent investigation but said he had actually reported what the investigated players had said……

[Author]

Posts