BEIJING: The former chairman of the Chinese Football Association has been sentenced to life in jail for accepting bribes price US$11 million, state media mentioned on Tuesday, a part of a crackdown on corruption within the home recreation.
Chen Xuyuan took benefit of his positions on the CFA and different our bodies to “illegally settle for sums of cash from different individuals totalling 81.03 million yuan (US$11 million)”, the Communist Party-run People’s Daily newspaper mentioned.
The bribes Chen took had been “significantly big” and his actions “significantly broken honest competitors and order”, the report mentioned.
He “triggered critical penalties for the nationwide soccer business”, it added.
Chen, who grew to become the CFA’s chairman in 2019 however held different positions in soccer previous to that, in January appeared in a televised documentary confessing to having accepted cash from these wishing to get in his good books.
“Fans can settle for the truth that the state of Chinese soccer is dangerous,” Chen mentioned within the documentary.
“But they can’t forgive corruption.”
China’s president Xi Jinping is a self-confessed soccer fanatic who has mentioned he desires of his nation internet hosting and successful the World Cup sooner or later.
Since rising to energy a decade in the past, Xi has additionally waged a sweeping crackdown on official graft that has struck exhausting on the home soccer business.
Around 10 senior leaders and executives of the CFA have been introduced down lately, together with Chen.
Verdicts in 4 extra main corruption instances are anticipated to be introduced on Tuesday, state information company Xinhua reported.
They might embody that of former nationwide staff coach Li Tie, who was near Chen.
The former Everton midfielder admitted within the January documentary that he had organized almost US$421,000 in bribes to safe that place and to have helped repair matches when he was a membership coach.
“There had been sure issues that on the time had been widespread practices in soccer,” he mentioned.
Another case that despatched shockwaves via the Chinese recreation was that of South Korean worldwide Son Jun-ho, who was detained by Chinese authorities final May.
Seoul’s international ministry mentioned on Monday that he had been launched and returned dwelling.
Son performed for Shandong Taishan within the Chinese Super League since 2021 and likewise appeared in three of South Korea’s 4 matches throughout the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
International teammate Lee Jae-sung informed media that he was grateful for Son’s launch.
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“It broke my coronary heart after I first heard about his detention final 12 months,” he informed a press convention in Bangkok, the place South Korea play Thailand afterward Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier.
