Three clubs in the mainland's top soccer league would be shut down or relegated for their involvement in alleged match-fixing, mainland media reports.
Reports in the past two days have suggested the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has decided to punish three Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs suspected of rigging matches.
The reports say the registration of Qingdao Hailifeng would be revoked and it would be fined up to 200,000 yuan (HK$227,000), while both Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and the Chengdu Blades would be demoted to the country's second tier Jia League.
Gu Jianming - chairman of the Chengdu side, one of 16 squads playing in the CSL - told Xinhua the club was due to be downgraded.
'We received a phone call on Sunday afternoon and were told of the relegation decision made by a relevant department, though we have not yet got any punishment on the basis of formal documents,' Gu was quoted as saying.
He said both the Chengdu Football Association and his club would respect and comply with the decision, adding that they had decided not to lodge an appeal against such a punishment, even though he thought the decision was harsh.
But both the Guangzhou and Qingdao sides refused to swallow their penalties and sent representatives to defend their interests in Beijing.