VICTOR ANICHEBE

has reported his club Beijing BG to FIFA over allegations of match-fixing. He claims that on two occasions, once in a local derby, he was told not to try by his coaches. Anichebe has been in dispute with the club for almost a year now and claims the move to China cost him a place in Nigeria’s World Cup squad. Smallest violin for that, considering his only motivation for joining an inferior league would have been the money. Yet finance is equally the problem here. If Anichebe is being truthful — and Beijing are yet to comment on these allegations — it will not be the first time match-fixing has been uncovered in China. The 2003 champions Shanghai Shenhua lost their title over it, while in 2013 the Chinese FA banned 58 players, officials and referees, across 12 clubs, following a three-year investigation into fixing conspiracies. Another two matches were investigated last season. The problem is the business model does not work. China’s football boom led to clubs paying extortionate transfer fees and wages, with insufficient money in the game to support it. It is in this climate that the appeal of more nefarious income streams grows.