Chinese Football Association bans players for match-fixing
The Chinese Football Association has banned for life 38 soccer players and five club officials after a two-year investigation into match-fixing and gambling, as part of a crackdown on corruption in one of China’s most popular sports.
The investigation found that 120 matches had been fixed, with 41 football clubs involved, Zhang Xiaopeng, a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security, told a press conference in Dalian, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The report did not say whether all the matches were in China.
Three former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu and Gu Chao and South Korean player Son Jun-ho were among those banned for life, according to findings made public on Tuesday at the press conference by the ministry and the General Administration of Sport of China, at which the CFA president was also present.
None of the players have made any public comment. Son was released in March after being detained for 10 months in China and returned to South Korea.
The findings were announced ahead of a World Cup qualifier in Dalian later on Tuesday where Team China will host Saudi Arabia after last week’s 7-0 loss away to Japan.