The Prosecutor’s Office in Seoul, Korea has announced that sixteen professional baseball players have been questioned in recent weeks over their alleged involvement in what is perceived to be illegal online wagering.
According to the authorities, thirteen members of the group play for the Samsung Lions team, while the others play for the Lotte Giants and the Hanwha Eagles. It is estimated that the sixteen spent over 1 billion Won ($700,000) on the site run by Koreans outside the country.
Baseball has become an extremely popular sport in Korea, following the national team’s Gold medal placing in the Beijing Olympics. The Secretary General of the Korean Baseball Organization was said to be ‘frustrated’ that this incident had cast a pall on a fine year of baseball for the country. “The prosecutors are still investigating,” said Ha Il-sung. “We’ll discuss our own disciplinary measures afterward.”