Review of China's crackdown on football corruption

 

China has been working hard over the past 2 years to fight decades-old problems with match-fixing, illegal betting and corruption in professional football. Lets look at how that's played out.

Early in 2009, China's police authorities discovered a group fixing football matches from Singapore.

Later that year, the depth of China's match-fixing and corruption problem became clear when top officials of former Chinese professional club Guangzhou Pharmacy were detained for investigation.

Later in November, police authorities revealed details of their latest match-fixing investigation indicating more top officials - including former Chinese Super League general manager Wang Bo - might be involved.

Allegations later drew in more players and officials from various pro clubs. The whole country gasped when ex-vice CFA President Nan Yong and another vice President Yang Yimin were taken away for investigation early in 2010. In March, Nan and Yang together with several other top officials from CFA were arrested due to match-fixing and corruption allegations.

And the scandal continued when national well-known referee Lu Jun was found guilty of taking bribe and match-fixing. While another former CFA president Xie Yalong, together with officials from the national team, were arrested in October, 2010.

The trials mark a new stage in China's crackdown on match-fixing and corruption.