China’s former sports minister is latest high-profile figure to be targeted in corruption probe

Gou Zhongwen, retired head of China’s General Administration of Sport, is being investigated for ‘serious violations of discipline and law’

China’s wide-ranging crackdown on corruption has intensified across the country’s scandal-ridden sporting world

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Gou Zhongwen is the latest figure to be probed amid a widening corruption crackdown in China. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 9:01pm, 30 May 2024

A former Chinese sports minister has been added to a growing list of senior officials who have been placed under investigation for corruption over the past year or so.

The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country’s top anti-corruption watchdog, said on Thursday that Gou Zhongwen, 67, who headed the national General Administration of Sport from 2016 to 2022, is currently being held in custody.

Gou, who is now retired, is “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law” – the usual euphemism for corruption in China. The announcement gave no further details about the case.

His arrest followed the detentions of several other officials in national sports administrations, who served under his leadership as the sports minister.

Gou Zhongwen (second from right), retired director of the General Administration of Sport, joins hands during the closing ceremony of the National Games in Xian in 2021. Photo: Xinhua

They included Gou’s former deputy Du Zhaocai, former Winter Olympics delegation chief Ni Huizhong, and about a dozen ex-football officials who were caught up in match-fixing and bribery inquiries.

These include high-profile figures such as Chen Xuyuan, the former chairman of the Chinese Football Association, who was handed a life sentence in March.

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