Hong Kong football clubs acknowledge arrests linked to illegal betting, match-fixing

Two of the 19 people reportedly arrested this week as part of a major crackdown on an illegal bookmaking ring in Hong Kong have been identified as prominent football coaches in the city.Lo Kwan-yee, head coach of local first division champions Supreme, and Poon Man-chun, coach of the under-18 and under-22 teams at local Premier League champions Kitchee and father of Hong Kong international Max Poon Pui-hin, were said to be among those linked to a group involved in match-fixing and handling illicit bets.On Friday, principal investigator Bill Ng Siu-kei of the Independent Commission Against Corruption said the agency and police had broken up a local syndicate run by individuals within football. The investigation involved personnel from at least five clubs.