Hundreds sent to boot camps in soccer drive

Hundreds of mainland soccer officials, referees and coaches were sent to 'anti-corruption rectification education camps' in Beijing and Guangdong yesterday as the authorities seek to clean up the sport.

More than 200 top referees were told a three-day boot camp that started in Beijing was their last chance to turn themselves in in return for more lenient treatment.

'We are giving those in trouble a chance of self-redemption,' Xinhua quoted the new chief of the China Football Association, Wei Di , as saying on Thursday.

Wei urged officials, referees and others caught up in match-fixing and corruption to 'come clean and confess' in exchange for leniency and warned that those caught after the grace period would be punished.

Head coaches of most of the national soccer teams began a similar three-day camp in Sanshui , Guangdong.

The coaches received skills training earlier in the week from prominent coaches including Kwok Ka-ming, Hong Kong's head coach from 1982 to 1990. Kwok guided his team to a famous victory over China in 1985, knocking them out of contention for the World Cup finals - an event that sparked rioting in Beijing.

The mainland coaches began by focusing on anti-corruption and rectification education yesterday, the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News reported.