In January 2008, the Singapore media reported that Liaoning Guangyuan's Team Manager, Wang Xin had been arrested following an investigation by Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau into alleged match-fixing. [3] Eight players from the team also had had their passports impounded pending investigations.[4][5] Shortly after the scandal broke, the Football Association of Singapore announced that it would not be inviting Liaoning Guangyuan to participate in the S.League again in 2008.
Investigations showed that Wang had arranged for a friend in China to place online bets on some of Liaoning Guangyuan's matches through a China-based betting website. He then approached certain players individually and asked them to help ensure the team would lose the match by a particular number of goals in return for bribes.[6]
Wang posted bail amounting to $80,000 and left Singapore for China to attend a court hearing.[7] However, he failed to return to Singapore on 16 January 2008 for a hearing on the charges.[8][9][10] He was eventually detained in Shenyang by the China's Police Force in April 2009 following his alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal in China.[11] Wang was then jailed for 7 Years.
Seven Liaoning Guangyuan players were charged and pleaded guilty to accepting amounts ranging between S$1,200 and S$4,000 from Wang to throw games. Li Xuebai, Li Zheng, Dong Lei, Peng Zhiyi, Tong Di and Zhao Zhipeng received jail sentences of five months, while Wang Lin was sentenced to four months. Each of the six players also received fines ranging from S$2,200 to S$6,200.[6]