Four mainland soccer referees were yesterday jailed for between 3 1/2 and seven years for their roles in fixing matches, in the first important verdict following a crackdown on soccer-related corruption, state media reported.
Lu Jun, Huang Junjie, Zhou Weixin and Wan Daxue were found guilty of accepting bribes. The sentences were handed down by the Intermediate People's Court in Dandong, Liaoning province.
Among the four, Lu is best known. He took part in the 2002 World Cup and was known as the 'Golden Whistle' for his impartiality. He received a 5 1/2-year sentence. The court also ordered the seizure of personal property valued at 100,000 yuan (HK$123,000), Xinhua reported.
Lu had admitted to taking bribes of more than 800,000 yuan to fix the results of seven league games between 1993 and 2003.
Huang, whose refereeing career spanned more than 20 years, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Personal property worth 200,000 yuan was also ordered seized.
The reason for his stiffer sentence was not given. His lawyer told China News Service they were satisfied with the sentence.