Motorboat racing Friday became the latest local sport to be marred by match-fixing allegations.

Prosecutors in Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province said they have arrested a 36-year-old racer, surnamed Park, on suspicions of fixing races. The racer allegedly took cash from a gambling broker in exchange for giving him the predicted orders of finishes in races.

The broker, a 47-year-old also surnamed Park, has been booked without physical detention. The two aren’t related.

Prosecutors said the racer received 270 million won ($240,260) from the broker on seven occasions last year and sent him predicted rankings in mobile text messages. The broker later bet on races based on such information and reportedly enjoyed big payouts.

Prosecutors added that it may be difficult for one racer to fix an entire race alone, and believe multiple competitors must have played a part.

This year, the motorboat season began two days ago and is slated to end in December, with one or two races each week. Six competitors make three laps around a 600-meter course.

In the V-League, several professional volleyball players are under investigation for allegedly taking money from brokers to rig scores, less than a year after the nation’s top football league was rocked by a major match-fixing scandal. Baseball players have also come under suspicion and prosecutors are expected to launch an investigation into the sport in the near future. 

(Yonhap News)