Shocking revelations about match-fixing in Chinese football

Shocking revelations about match-fixing in Chinese football

Former Chinese Football Association President Chen Xuyuan and former head coach Li Tie are under investigation for corruption. However, scandals related to football in the country of a billion people are still painful.

Chinese football is going through sad days when two important figures, former President of the Chinese Football Association, Chen Xuyuan and former head coach Li Tie, were both detained on corruption charges.

Not stopping there, according to China News Weekly, many players in the Chinese national championship have been arrested by the police for their involvement in match-fixing. Among them, people have seen the appearance of many former national players.

China is flooded with match-fixing

After the Lunar New Year, Shandong Taishan player Wu Xinghan was involved in an affair scandal. It is worth mentioning that in the text messages that this player sent to his girlfriend, many dark corners of Chinese football were revealed.

Coach Li Tie was arrested for corruption (Photo: Sina).

"Now the Chinese national championship is full of match-fixing", "Each person can earn 300,000 to 400,000 if they successfully fix a match", "Making money is so easy now"... are the text messages Wu Xinghan sent to his girlfriend.

Wu Xinghan represented the Chinese national team in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and is a mainstay of the Shandong Taishan club. It is worth mentioning that his girlfriend took screenshots and sent relevant evidence to the authorities to denounce match-fixing in Chinese football.

In August last year, the Chinese Football Association held a meeting to discuss the competition format of the country's leagues (the national championship, the first division, the second division). During the meeting, they received a complaint about many players' involvement in match-fixing. Immediately after, the agency organized a special task force to coordinate with the police to investigate illegal activities and match-fixing among players.

The Chinese Football Association has also warned clubs that gambling is rampant among players. Clubs are required to manage their players to ensure they comply with rules and operate within the law.

In March this year, Director of the State Sports Administration, Gao Zhidan, said: "Recently, in the face of serious problems in the football world, we are studying solutions and reforms to clean up Chinese football. We will resolutely crack down on and severely punish corruption, gambling and match-fixing in football and other fields to ensure healthy development."

Many Chinese players involved in match-fixing in domestic leagues (Photo: 163).

China News Weekly said there was no evidence that the club was involved in match-fixing. Unlike other crimes, match-fixing is often quite sophisticated and well-hidden. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the level of violation of players through a few matches. Instead, the authorities must investigate based on evidence and clues from sources of information from bookmakers.

It is reported that a player of Shandong Taishan Club not only participated in match-fixing, but also played a role in organizing, assigning tasks and dividing money among teammates.

"Practice together every day, you can tell at a glance"

Some journalists in China believe that there are players who act as intermediaries. They can manipulate the game without appearing on the field. An anonymous journalist shared: "Usually, goalkeepers and defenders are the easiest to fix the score. There is a player who acts as an intermediary, a link to convince teammates to cooperate."

A former goalkeeper told China News Weekly: "I was approached but refused. After that, the match-fixing group ignored me. Generally, match-fixing is not related to a specific individual because one player has too little influence. Usually, the match-fixing group will bribe the team's entire pillar."

That was also shared by another player: "Normally, brokers will bribe goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and strikers. A player cannot manipulate the result of the whole match. Even a goalkeeper can hardly manipulate the whole match.

Match-fixing in the Chinese championship has spread to an uncontrollable level (Photo: Getty).

It is not for nothing that match-fixing has appeared and flourished in Chinese football in the past two years. I have trained with my teammates for a long time. I know each person's personality and ability. Therefore, with just a glance, I can tell whether he is bribed or not."

The player even claimed to be able to see the "abnormal" points of his opponents. He continued: "There are some high-level Chinese players who make silly mistakes. In the eyes of professional players, those mistakes are nothing more than a farce. But even if you see that, so what? Who can you sue? Where is the evidence?"

Many believe that match-fixing in Chinese football is happening during a period when many clubs are in recession. Players' salaries and bonuses are being cut dramatically. China News Weekly quoted another player as saying: "When they lose their high salaries, they will immediately think of match-fixing. However, low salaries and crime are two different categories. Although many clubs are facing financial difficulties, this is not the reason why they participate in match-fixing. It is like an act of deception."

Although they knew their teammates were fixing the score, many Chinese players did not know how to report it (Photo: Sina).

But the problem is that the players arrested for match-fixing are all from clubs that are not in serious financial trouble. Some clubs in China even claim that they have not owed their players a single day's salary.

The case of coach Li Tie is an example. His salary at Hebei and Wuhan clubs was very high. After that, he accepted to lead the Chinese national team with a salary of more than 3 million yuan per year. However, he was still caught up in corruption allegations.

Chinese football "scraping bones to cure poison"

Chinese fans have expressed their support as authorities continue to arrest and expose match-fixing in the country’s football. With the motto “scraping the bone to cure the poison”, the Chinese football governing body is trying to completely eliminate the boils from the bone marrow, moving towards a cleaner and healthier environment.

There have been many arrests in football over the years, but the problem is that the authorities have not been thorough. It was only when high-ranking figures like Chen Xuyuan and Li Tie were arrested that Chinese football really showed its determination.

Ten years ago, the Chinese Football Association conducted a large-scale "sweep" on match-fixing and gambling in football in this country. As a result, hundreds of people involved in football were implicated, dozens of people were convicted, including players, coaches, referees, player agents...

Despite fighting match-fixing for more than 10 years, Chinese football has yet to completely eradicate the problem (photo: Sohu).

In the storm, Shenyang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming to prison terms ranging from six months to six years. The four were fined an average of 500,000 yuan and recovered 8 million yuan in illegal funds.

The suspicions were related to a match between Shanghai International and Tianjin Teda in 2003. At that time, the General Manager of Teda, through an intermediary, gave 8 million yuan to four players to ask them to fix the score.

The Chinese Football Association's Disciplinary Committee then imposed penalties according to Articles 5, 70 and 49 of the "Chinese Football Association Disciplinary and Punitive Measures Guidelines". They banned four players Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming from playing for life.

China News Weekly reported that after the storm, many clubs took measures such as temporarily confiscating players’ phones and laptops before each match. However, this management method increased conflicts between players and the team. That affected the team’s morale. Therefore, this measure was later removed.

Even today, many managers of professional Chinese clubs admit that it is impossible to completely eliminate match-fixing, because the methods of match-fixing are becoming more sophisticated and unpredictable.

In 2011, Wei Di, then director of the Football Management Center and Party Secretary of the State Sports Administration, proposed the idea of establishing a supervisory committee to crack down on match-fixing. However, he himself admitted: "It is very difficult for us to obtain evidence of match-fixing." Twelve years on, Chinese football officials have still not been able to eradicate the problem.

However, according to Sina newspaper, "Compared to 10 years ago, the intensity of the crackdown on match-fixing in Chinese football is much greater." Only by "treating the bone with poison" can Chinese football build a sustainable foundation for development.

H.Long

March 21, 2023

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tiet-lo-gay-chan-dong-ve-tinh-trang-ban-do-o-bong-da-trung-quoc-20230321185236799.htm