The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has recently imposed a lifetime ban on 38 players and five club officials. This decision comes after a two-year investigation into widespread match-fixing and illegal gambling, aimed at cleaning up a sport that has long been plagued by allegations of dishonesty and poor performance. The investigation revealed the manipulation of 120 matches and implicated over 40 clubs.
128 arrests
Corruption in Chinese football has long been a point of frustration for fans who blame such issues for the underperformance of the men’s national team. Since 2022, a total of 128 suspects have been arrested and 12 online gambling rings dismantled. Criminal measures have been taken against 83 individuals involved, including players, referees, coaches, and club management personnel, explained the General Administration of Sports and the Ministry of Public Security during a press conference. To date, 44 football-related individuals have been sentenced by the courts, with 34 receiving prison sentences or more severe penalties.
Recently, authorities have carried out several high-profile arrests: a former vice president of the CFA was sentenced to 11 years in prison in August for accepting bribes, while a former competition department director received a seven-year sentence for similar charges. In March, a former CFA chairman was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in corruption.
“Ridiculous” allegations
Among the banned individuals are former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao and Gu Chao, as well as South Korean midfielder Son Jun-ho, who was previously with China’s Shandong Taishan FC. Son’s agent, Park Dae-yeon, dismissed the allegations as “ridiculous,” vowing to hold a press conference to provide their side of the story. Son, who spent 10 months detained in China before being released in March, has since returned to South Korea, where he now plays for Suwon. Suwon’s sporting director, Choi Soon-ho, reaffirmed the club’s support for Son, stating they would continue to field him unless explicitly ordered otherwise.
Son Jun-ho.
A struggling team
Despite ambitious goals set by President Xi Jinping to transform China into a football powerhouse, the men’s national team continues to struggle. China’s recent 7-0 defeat to Japan in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup only proved their ongoing difficulties. Currently ranked 87th in the FIFA world rankings, China has qualified for the World Cup only once, in 2002, when they were eliminated in the group stage without winning a single game.
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