CFA ex-chief sentenced to life in prison on bribery charges
A FORMER chief of China’s soccer association has been sentenced to life in prison for accepting more than US$10 million in bribes, state media reported yesterday, following one of the biggest anti-corruption probes in the sport in years.
The sentence handed down to Chen Xuyuan came in the wake of probes into more than a dozen highlevel soccer officials since late 2022. Chen had brought “tremendous damage” to Chinese soccer, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a court ruling.
The sport has long grappled with corruption, which fans have blamed for the under-performance of the national team. In 2012, two former chiefs of the same soccer association were each sentenced to 10-1/2 years in jail for taking bribes.
Chen, 67, had worked on the docks in Shanghai when he was a youth. He eventually became the head of Shanghai International Port in the 2010s, before chairing the Chinese Football Association in 2019.
A court in Hubei Province found Chen had taken advantage of his various posts from 2010 to 2023, including those linked to the CFA, to aid others in matters regarding project contracting, investment operations etc, Xinhua reported.
In return, Chen accepted money and valuables worth over 81 million yuan (US$11.22 million).
In a state TV documentary series on corruption aired in January, Chen confessed to accepting bribes and described one incident the night before he became CFA chairman when he received backpacks containing cash from two soccer officials.
“They came into my room, casually placed their backpacks on my sofa, and said, ‘congratulations, president Chen, we hope you can take care of us more,’” he said.
“When I asked what they were offering, they responded it is just a tradition and they all do it this way.”
Other officials probed for corruption included Chen Yongliang, former CFA executive deputy secretarygeneral; Liu Lei, ex-director of the Wuhan Football Management Center; Yu Hongchen, a former vice head of the CFA; and Dong Zheng, a former general manager of the Chinese Super League.
Chen was sentenced to 14 years, Yu 13 years, Dong 8 years, and Liu 2-1/2 years.
Li Tie, former head coach of the national men’s team, and Du Zhaocai, former CFA vice chairman, have yet to receive their judgements.
(Reuters)