Civil servants at municipalities across South Korea, especially those near Incheon, "are being pressured to buy tickets for events in the ongoing Asian Games." Currently, only 30% of tickets have been reserved, "and the low sales are a major headache for the organizers." Last week, the Seoul Metropolitan Government asked for "cooperation" from district offices in official documents "to boost ticket sales during a meeting of officials from Seoul's 25 districts." An official at a northwestern Seoul district said, "The documents say that civil servants are 'asked' to go and watch the games. But in reality, we regard it as an obligation." SMG officials said that "local governments are obliged to cooperate if the organizing committee asks them to do so" (KOREA HERALD, 9/25). ... Match-fixing suspicions "hit the Asian Games men's football competition on Thursday after a betting analysis company said there were strong indications of manipulation." Asian Games organizers "promised a full investigation after the claim by Swiss-based Sportradar surfaced in a Singapore newspaper." Sportradar Managing Dir of Strategy & Integrity Andreas Krannich: "We can say that we strongly believe there have been manipulated matches at the Asian Games" (AFP, 9/25).
