{"id":330219,"date":"2024-09-10T16:49:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T21:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=330219"},"modified":"2024-09-11T10:23:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T15:23:41","slug":"china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"China Soccer Purges 60 Players, Officials in Corruption and Gambling Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s Football Association (soccer) has banned 43 players and officials from the sport for life following a widespread investigation into corruption and match-fixing.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese
Chinese soccer fans voicing their support for the national team ahead of its humiliating 7-0 defeat to Japan last week. Widespread corruption has been blamed for the failure to realize President Xi Jinping\u2019s dream of transforming the country into a soccer superpower. (Image: CNA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the group are former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu, and Gu Chao. Current South Korea international Son Jun-ho, who played in China for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League, is also on the list.<\/p>\n

The sanctions were announced Tuesday at a press briefing in Dalian by the top official from the Ministry of Public Security, Zhang Xiaopeng, and reported by Xinhua<\/em>, the state-owned news agency.<\/p>\n

Draining the Swamp<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Zhang said the bans were the culmination of a two-year investigation that uncovered widespread online gambling, match-fixing, and bribery in Chinese soccer. Some 120 matches were implicated in the investigation, which involved 128 criminal suspects and 41 teams.<\/p>\n

In addition to the 43 life bans, 17 others, including Cameroonian forward Donovan Ewolo, now playing in Saudi Arabia, were banned for five years.<\/p>\n

Son \u2018Bewildered\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Son, 32, was arrested as he attempted to leave China in May 2023. He was detained in the country until March of this year on unspecified bribery charges.<\/p>\n

\n

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) said in a statement that Son had \u201cparticipated in illegal transactions, manipulated football matches, and obtained illegal gains to seek unlawful benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cHis actions seriously violated sports ethics and sportsmanship, causing significant negative social impact,” the CFA said.<\/p>\n

Son\u2019s agent, Park Dae-yeon, told South Korean news agency Yonhap<\/em> Tuesday that he and his client were \u201cbewildered\u201d by the \u201cridiculous\u201d charges.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Corruption has long been endemic in Chinese soccer. Earlier this year, former CFA president Chen Xuyuan was sentenced to life in prison for accepting millions in bribes.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Failed Soccer Project <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chinese President Xi Jinping is said to be a big fan of the game and pledged in 2015 to turn China into a soccer superpower that would one day lift the World Cup. But despite pouring billions into the sport, there is nothing to suggest China is the sleeping giant of world soccer.<\/p>\n

If anything, the country’s prospects for achieving soccer glory are getting worse.<\/p>\n

\n

In January, for the first time in 29 years, China lost to Hong Kong, its own Special Administrative Region (SAR). But the most humiliating defeat was a 7-0 hammering last Friday by Japan, one of its biggest sporting and geopolitical rivals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A recent documentary that aired on state television claimed corruption is holding Chinese soccer back and may have spurred authorities to purge the game of undesirable elements.<\/p>\n

Just hours after Tuesday\u2019s sanctions were announced, China was beaten at home by Saudi Arabia. The national team currently sits at the bottom of its World Cup qualifying group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s Football Association (soccer) has banned 43 players and officials from the sport for life following a widespread investigation into corruption and match-fixing. Among the group are former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu, and Gu Chao. Current South Korea international Son Jun-ho, who played in China for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":330220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86644,21,61,82966,1074],"tags":[92290,92291,92289,92292],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChina Soccer Purges 60 Players, Officials in Corruption Probe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"China Football Association bans 60 players and officials for corruption, including South Korea\u2019s Son Jun-ho, shortly after 7-0 loss to Japan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China Soccer Purges 60 Players, Officials in Corruption Probe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China Football Association bans 60 players and officials for corruption, including South Korea\u2019s Son Jun-ho, shortly after 7-0 loss to Japan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-10T21:49:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-11T15:23:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/china-foot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/\",\"name\":\"China Soccer Purges 60 Players, Officials in Corruption Probe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/china-foot.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-10T21:49:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-11T15:23:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"China Football Association bans 60 players and officials for corruption, including South Korea\u2019s Son Jun-ho, shortly after 7-0 loss to Japan.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/china-soccer-purges-60-players-officials-in-corruption-probe\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/china-foot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/china-foot.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":563,\"caption\":\"Chinese soccer fans voicing their support for the national team ahead of its humiliating 7-0 defeat to Japan last week. 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