Beijing, April 23 (IANS) Chinese Taipei Football Association president Lin Cheng-yi has been accused of match fixing a World Cup qualifier, according to media reports on Thursday.
Lin is allegedly involved in fixing Chinese Taipei’s 0-1 home defeat to Brunei in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match on March 15, in which he is believed to have received a payment of $1.6 million from a gambling syndicate, reports Xinhua.
In the return match, Chinese Taipei beat Brunei 2-0 and advanced to the last 40 of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) zone qualifying, winning the tie 2-1 on aggregate. It was Chinese Taipei’s best result in the qualifiers in 12 years.
Should Lin Cheng-yi be convicted, he will be jailed for 1-7 years and fined up to $1.2 million.
Lin Cheng-yi is a former football player who played as a defender for Kaohsiung County Taipower club and also represented the Chinese Taipei national team.