Chief: zero-tolerance for match-fixing at Games
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A senior China sports official has promised a zero-tolerance policy regarding match-fixing at the National Games, which officially open in Jinan, Shandong province, today.
"The State General Administration of Sport (SGAS) will definitely not tolerate any match fixing," said Xiao Tian, vice director of the SGAS, yesterday. "If it happens, we will even go to the courts. We have no tolerance of such actions and will deal with them strictly."
Match-fixing allegations during the diving competition, which were held from Oct 3-12, hit the headlines even before today's official opening ceremony.
One of the diving judges claimed some of the events were fixed by Zhou Jihong, the head coach of the Chinese team.
Xiao said his body was obviously concerned about the reports but claimed there was no proof to support the allegations.
"We have heard of the match-fixing allegation in the diving events and officials from that sport's governing body are surprised about it," Xiao said. "The SGAS always considers fairness of competition the key criteria to evaluate success at the National Games. We have strict rules and anyone who is found to have violated those rules will be severely punished.
"We have investigated the allegations regarding diving and Zhou has explained herself. The final list of judges was decided randomly half an hour before each competition, which would make it impossible to manipulate the scoring process."
Li Hua, head of the National Aquatics Sport Administration Center of China, said the allegations were "irresponsible and groundless".
"The rumors said all the gold medals had been fixed before the competition started. I think the rumors were irresponsible and groundless," said Li in a statement.
"All the rules and processes regarding managing the judges were strictly followed. Nobody can fix the results during such a fiercely competitive National Games," he said.
Match-fixing is not new to China. The 10th National Games, four years ago in south China's Jiangsu province, were plagued with match-fixing rumors in judo, rhythmic gymnastics and taekwondo.
In order to avoid such allegations at this year's Games, the SGAS has invited more foreign referees for events including soccer, taekwondo and figure skating. The taekwondo officials also applied for electronic pads to ensure greater fairness in their competition.
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