A new book promises to lift the lid on rampant corruption in mainland soccer, ranging from national team players betting on games to club owners who earned fortunes from match-fixing.
Li Chengpeng , a soccer columnist and one of three authors of Inside Story of Chinese Soccer, said yesterday they had interviewed more than 130 insiders while researching the book.
The purpose was not just to chronicle the darkest episodes in mainland soccer, but also to tell readers how the gambling industry has boomed in the past decade.
The book comes at an important time for mainland soccer. Following pressure from a top leadership embarrassed by the pitiful state of the national team, a crackdown by the Ministry of Public Security has led to the detention of officials, coaches and managers. In November, six national team players were even taken away in the middle of a night for a meeting with several State Council investigators.
After speculation that one national player bet on matches when China made its debut in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan - China lost all games and failed to score - Li said his suspicion was heightened by unusual results in China's qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup. China beat Hong Kong 7-0 on November 17, 2004, but failed to reach the second qualifying round as their goal difference was one fewer than Kuwait.
'How could professional players make such a stupid mistake like wrongly calculating the goal difference?' Li asked.