Soccer corruption trials to get underway next year

Soccer corruption trials to get underway next year

Seven former top officials from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) involved in match-fixing and bribery scandals, including Nan Yong, the body's former vice chairman, will be put on trial early next year, according to Guangdong-based newspaper Soccer Monday.

The semiweekly newspaper reported that Nan Yong, Xie Yalong, two former heads of the Chinese Soccer Administrative Center, and Yang Yimin, a senior official in both the CFA and the Asian Football Confederation, will be charged with bribery and malfeasance.

The other four are Wei Shaohui, former manager of the national football team, Li Dongsheng, former head of the CFA's referee commission, Zhang Jianqiang, CFA's head of referees and Fan Guangming, a CFA official.

The newspaper reported that the investigation has entered its final stages, and that all evidence has been sent to the Tieling Procuratorate in Liaoning Province for the upcoming trial.

However, the law does not give a clear definition of match fixing in China, posing a challenge for authorities in handling such cases. "It means we can't win a conviction for football officials who have manipulated match results via referees and gambling. It's a loophole in our law actually," Ma Dexing, a football commentator, told the Global Times Monday.

In May, related government departments and law experts held a forum to discuss how to win convictions for match fixing, but failed to reach any conclusions.
"Professional sports is developing in China, but legislation on sports hasn't improved as it develops," he added.

Experts believe that match fixing should be added to the Criminal Law.
"Illegally manipulating match results is not a separate crime in our country, so normally they will be charged with other related crimes, such as bribery and gambling," Ma said.

Authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on corruption in Chinese soccer in March last year. Several soccer officials have reportedly been detained for their involvement in gambling and match fixing.

Nan, Yang and Zhang were put under criminal detention in January this year, becoming the most senior officials to be swept up in the campaign.

Since then, a high profile committee set up by 12 ministry-level bodies has stepped in to carry out an investigation into the CFA.