Soccer-Taiwan FA head accused of betting on his side to lose

TAIPEI, April 23 (Reuters) - The head of the Taiwan Football Association (CTFA) is being investigated by authorities after allegedly betting on his side to lose a World Cup qualifier against Brunei, local media reported on Thursday. CTFA chairman Lin Cheng-yi made over $1 million from a series of bets with underground gambling syndicates on the first leg of the first round tie which Brunei surprisingly won 1-0 in Kaohsiung, the Chinese-language Next Magazine reported. Brunei's March 12 victory came after a goalkeeper error allowed Adi Said to head the only goal from close range in the 36th minute. Taiwan, who dominated the first match but could not convert their chances, recovered in the second leg to win 2-0 and advance to the second round 2-1 on aggregate. The magazine claimed Lin had told the team's head coach to drop key players for the fixture, including Turkish-born striker Onur Dogan -- also known as Chu En Le -- who scored the decisive second goal in the return leg. Lin, elected in 2013, has since stepped down from his position with vice chairman Liu Fu-tsai in temporary charge, the Taipei Times said. The daily cited Liu saying the local body would fully cooperate with the prosecutors. "In light of the media reports, the AFC is monitoring the situation and substantiating details," the Asian Football Confederation said in a statement. Taiwan, ranked 179th by world governing body FIFA, face Iraq, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia in the second round of World Cup qualifying, which also doubles as a qualifying tournament for the 2019 Asian Cup. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)