China bans 43 soccer players and officials for life for match-fixing
BEIJING, Sept 10 (Reuters) -The Chinese Football Association has banned for life 38 soccer players and five club officials after a two-year investigation into match-fixing and gambling, as part of a crackdown on corruption in one of China's most popular sports.
The investigation found that 120 matches had been fixed, with 41 football clubs involved, Zhang Xiaopeng, a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security, told a press conference in Dalian, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The report did not say whether all the matches were in China.
Three former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu and Gu Chao and South Korean player Son Jun-ho were among those banned for life, according to findings made public on Tuesday at the press conference by the ministry and the General Administration of Sport of China, at which the CFA president was also present.
None of the players have made any public comment. Son was released in March after being detained for 10 months in China and returned to South Korea.
Zhang said 44 individuals faced criminal penalties for bribery, gambling, and the illegal opening of casinos, while 17 others were found to have engaged in bribery and match-fixing.
CFA President Song Kai said 43 of the 44 had been banned for life from football-related activities, and 17 others received five-year bans.
The findings were announced ahead of a World Cup qualifier in Dalian later on Tuesday where Team China will host Saudi Arabia after last week's 7-0 loss away to Japan.
The sport has long grappled with corruption, which fans have blamed for the underperformance of the men's national team.
China in turn has ramped up its crackdown on soccer-related graft.
In August, a former vice president of the national football association was sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes, and a former director of the competition department was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for the same offence.
A former chairman of the CFA was sentenced to life in prison in March.
Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Ryan Woo; Editing by Alison Williams
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
