Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) announced the arrest of 23 people, including a coach and 11 footballers, in connection with a match-fixing investigation.
The ICAC had received reports of suspected corruption involving individual players and spent nearly a year investigating before launching the operation.
The suspects, 22 men and one woman between the ages of 25 and 36, allegedly offered bribes to players to influence match outcomes, including losing or tying games, as part of a scheme to profit from illegal gambling. The group members contacted the coach and players before matches to provide instructions and offer bribes. Some players received thousands of dollars to lose games against weaker teams, while others placed bets on the outcomes of these matches to win large sums.
The investigation also revealed that a football team recently relegated from the Hong Kong Premier League was linked to the case. While the team’s name was not released, it was confirmed that they had been involved in 18 matches with suspicious outcomes during the First Division League. Players from first division side Happy Valley, and second division clubs Tung Sing and Fu Moon were interviewed by the ICAC on Monday.
Pui Kwan-kay, the Hong Kong Football Association chairman, emphasised the governing body’s zero-tolerance policy towards match-fixing and pledged to help authorities stamp out the problem in domestic football. Happy Valley finished 10th in the 14-team league this season, conceding 84 goals in the process. Kwai Tsui, who finished bottom, let in 106. Tung Sing and Fu Moon are presently 11th and 14th respectively in the ongoing 16-team second division.
The ICAC stressed that corruption of any kind, especially in sports, undermines the integrity of the game and is a serious criminal offense. The investigation is ongoing, and the suspects will face charges of bribery, illegal gambling, and other related offenses. The case is a reminder of the need for vigilance against match-fixing and the importance of maintaining the integrity of sports.
The ICAC said that it has arrested the 23 individuals, including 22 men and one woman, aged between 25 to 36 years old, following a year-long investigation into allegations of corrupt practices by individual players in a local soccer team. The team, which participated in the 2022-2023 Hong Kong Premier League, played 26 matches, of which 18 were either lost or ended in a draw, with some games suspected of being fixed.
The group members allegedly made contact with the team’s coaches and players before the matches and gave instructions to manipulate the game. Some players received thousands of dollars in bribes to manipulate games, with the highest reward reaching HK$9,000, and then played poorly to lose to weaker teams. They also participated in illegal gambling to win substantial amounts of money.
The ICAC found that some group members made exaggerated body language gestures outside the stadium to instruct players on how to manipulate the game, and then placed bets on underdogs with high odds to win huge payouts. The management of the soccer team is considered a victim in this case.
Hong Kong anti-corruption agency arrests 23 people including 11 footballers, coach as part of match-fixing probe
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The reopening is backed by a new group of investors, brought in by the group’s “old partners,”. This occurred after the group was recognized as partners, with “old partners finding new investors to inject fresh capital.” Source said the current situation is “enough to sustain the whole operation.”
Previously, Dowinn ceased operations on the evening of June 17th, 2024, at casinos such as Solaire, Okada Manila, City of Dreams Manila, Clark D’Heights Resort & Casino, and Royce Hotel & Casino.
The group failed to resume operations as promised on the afternoon of June 24th, then announced the postponement of its reopening until July 19th.
Dowinn Group has partners from China, the Philippines, and South Korea. No details were provided on the origin of the new investors or the amount they injected into the company.
However, so far, among all the reopened VIP rooms, the junket operation at Royce Hotel & Casino is the only one that has recorded any activity, according to the source.
“Welcome to the Eras Tour!” This unforgettable line from Taylor Swift has created meaning that transcends songs.
The ‘Swiftonomics’ wave has swept over different destinations globally, for instance Singapore and Tokyo, among others.
According to Channel News Asia, the size of Australia’s economy expanded by US$363 million over seven shows, and Tokyo’s by $226 million over four nights.
Singapore, which has been claimed to spend about $3 million subsidizing every show, has witnessed a massive 2.9% GDP growth rate, amounting to US$375 million in the first quarter of 2024 after the 6-day concert tour attracted fans from across Asia, as reported by Bloomberg. Consequently, Changi Airport declared an increase of 20% in passenger arrival traffic compared to the same period last year.
Gabriela, Cheang Si Weng, Lecturer at UTM
A similar story is being told regarding Macau, which has become a rapidly growing music destination hosting as many as 240 concerts in 2023. Although gaming no doubt continues to be the key industry in Macau, the authorities are turning to the concert economy, recognizing it as a promising direction for economic diversification.
¿Who can forget the presence of Jacky Cheung, Blackpink, and Seventeen among others, performing in Macau?
Sands Resort Macau Press Center reported that Jacky Cheung’s 2023 show sold more than 109,000 tickets and generated over MOP$100 million (~US$12.4 million) in revenue. The ripple effect from these captivating shows also encompassed the hotels, restaurants, and even the gaming sector. With more and more performers selecting Macau as their venue of choice, the future of Macau as a city esteemed for its cultural growth is looking even brighter.
Does it mean that Macau is ready to welcome someone like Taylor Swift?
At the moment, combined together, the Galaxy Arena, Cotai Arena and other venues can accommodate tens of thousands of guests which puts Macau in the ranks of global entertainment capitals. However, the two largest venues with capacities of 16,000 (Galaxy Arena) and 15,000 (Cotai Arena) are likely to be too small for concerts of world-renowned singers like Taylor Swift who, based on The Business Times Singapore, attracted over 50,000 fans to the National Stadium in Singapore.
Aware of the existing capacity shortage, the Macau government is actively trying to resolve this situation.
Ao Ieong U, Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture disclosed on April 23,2024 that the area surrounding Macau East Asian Games Dome is being considered as a possible 50,000-seat performance facility. Remodeling the Macau East Asian Games Dome, which currently holds 9,000 people, into a 50,000-person flooded dome would revitalize this remote location.
If approved, this decision may become the starting point for star-studded events and consequently multiply the profits of the local enterprises and tourism.
Macau, which combines tradition and modernity for the purpose of attracting tourists, is taking a chance on non-gaming entertainment to diversify tourism landscape. The city’s emerging concert economy has the potential to turn it into the best destination for people from all over the world who love entertainment and the symphony that comes with it is not only music to the fans’ ears, but also money in the businesses’ accounts. Macau is undoubtedly on the way to an even brighter and more diversified future.
Online gambling such as e-Bingo, and bingo grantees now contribute nearly half of the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (Pagcor) revenues, overtaking those from large integrated resorts.
New data from Pagcor showed the online gaming sector accounted for 45.53 percent or P20.66 billion in gaming revenue during the first semester of 2024. These eclipsed contributions of integrated resorts, which contributed P16.06 billion, followed by P6.93 billion coming from Pagcor’s Casino Filipino brand.
Pogo's the stone in the shoe, this week they continue to pressure them to turn off.
Online gaming not just a trend
“Given the phenomenal revenue increase in the e-games sector, and with more players and investors signifying their intent to enter the Philippine market, we are confident that the year 2024 will be truly a banner year for Pagcor,” Chair and CEO Al Tengco said in a statement.
Pagcor’s said its net income for during the first half surged to P6.56 billion, more than double earnings during the same period last year.
Remittances soar
The Philippine gaming industry’s gross gaming revenue also climbed 19.21 percent toP194.743 billion during the first semester. “Pagcor’s robust net income growth translates of course to a larger contribution to nation-building,” he said. “We were able to remit P31.82 billion…to the treasury in the first six months compared to P22.62 billion in the same period last year.”
The latest development follows a discussion between a Legislative Assembly committee and government officials on Monday.
Under the legislation, which will allow searches of residences, only gambling activities that involve money will be considered illegal, with offences punishable by a fine of between MOP1,500 and MOP5,000. However, those that take place privately, such as home-based mahjong games, do not constitute an offence.
Other examples include non-profit mahjong games held in a clubhouse and chess games in the park.
Chan Chak Mo, who heads the committee, stressed that this is because these leisure activities do not involve money, explaining that “setting up an unfinished Chinese chess game in a public park and charging MOP5 per game could potentially be a violation of the law”.The bill is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Assembly for a final reading by 15 August, the end of the current legislative session.
Is it possible to criminalize unofficial currency exchange?
Government officials seemed more inclined to use administrative means during Monday’s meeting, the lawmaker said. In 2023, more than 2,000 people involved in money exchange will be banned from entering casinos.
Criminalising the business is a “complex” and “time-consuming” process involving investigation, evidence gathering and trial, Chan said, quoting government representatives.
“The government believes that the use of administrative measures, such as reporting to mainland authorities to prohibit ‘money exchange gangs’ from leaving the country or banning them from entering Macau, has been effective in combating them,” the lawmaker said.
South Korea needs a policy “white paper” on the role and future of its own casino industry, in the face of a “big threat” competition-wise from a Japanese integrated resort (IR) with casino, MGM Osaka, due to open in 2030.
That is according to Yang Hyung-eun, a researcher of the Institute of Amusement Industry Studies at Osaka University of Commerce, in Japan. His thoughts are in an opinion article in the Korea Times, published last week.
Scholar Mr Yang wrote that the eventual launch of Japan’s MGM Osaka, possibly in six years, “will pose a big threat to [South] Korea’s casinos with a 60-year history,this was already predicted from the early 2000s. The [South] Korean government focused on regulation rather than promotion for the future.”
South Korea has 18 casinos, but only one of them – Kangwon Land – has gaming facilities open to local players. Regional competition for players is building in the wake of factors including China’s campaign on mainlanders gambling while overseas.
A number of investment analysts has commented on some public perception in South Korea of casino gambling being a socially-harmful activity, rather than one to drive economic growth, including foreign earnings from inbound tourism.
According to Mr Yang, “a ‘casino white paper’ is needed to prevent the same mistakes from occurring again.” He did not specify the supposed nature of such “mistakes”.
The scholar said that “for the sake of a ‘Korean-style IR’ [sector], a civic meeting of intellectuals should carry out a comprehensive review”.
Mr Yang said a minimum was to establish in South Korea what he termed an “integrated resort promotion headquarters”, as well as a casino regulatory commission. He referred in the article to Japan’s IR Promotion Headquarters, which he noted was “a unit designed to promote countermeasures against gambling addiction”.
“Now is the time for a future vision and philosophy” for the South Korean casino industry, he suggested.
A number of publicly-listed firms that run foreigner-only casinos in that market indicate that historically Japan and China have been important source markets for players.
China’s government has recently been running a campaign to discourage mainland residents from casino gambling when travelling abroad, which a number of investment analysts has suggested could impact casino-services demand in South Korea.
Kangwon Land Inc, the operator of Kangwon Land, has indicated recently it wants to seek business growth by pursuing the foreign-client segment, including via improved facilities.
In March, a senior South Korean government official said in a speech that he hoped the recently-opened private-sector Mohegan Inspire Entertainment Resort at Incheon, which has an 15,000-seat concert arena as well as a foreigner-only casino, would boost what he termed “cultural tourism” to the country.
South Korean popular music, television soap operas, and clothing fashions are among cultural elements said to have a strong following across East Asia, according to some market research sources. Such elements have been consumer themes taken up in non-gaming facilities at the Paradise City casino resort at Incheon, according to materials from that venue’s promoters.
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