September 10, 2024, 3:50 PM
September 10, 2024, 3:50 PM
The Chinese Football Federation sanctioned with a life ban 43 people, including several former footballers, have been banned from any sport-related activities for corruption and match-fixing, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
These 43 people, including former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu and Gu Chao and South Korean footballer Son Jun-ho, They were part of a group of 128 people investigated for two years for illegal betting and match-fixing in Chinese football, according to the same source.
The Chinese Federation accused Son of having accepted bribes and participated in match-fixing when he played for Shandong Taishan.
The South Korean footballer returned to his country in March 2024 after having been detained in China since May of last year.
The news came just hours before the Chinese team was defeated 2-1 by Saudi Arabia in Dalian, a result that moves them further away from their goal of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Last Thursday, on the second day of Group C of the Asian qualifiersChina was humiliated by Japan, who defeated them 7-0, meaning that the team coached by Croatian Branko Ivankovic has not earned any points in this phase.
For several years now, The authorities of the Asian giant have intensified the repression against corruption in sport, especially football, and several former sports leaders have been convicted, such as the former Chinese football boss Chen Xuyuan, who was jailed in March with a life sentence for having accepted “particularly large” bribes.
That same month it also became known that former Everton coach and midfielder Lie Tie pleaded guilty to accepting more than $9.7 million euros in bribes and for helping to fix matches.
