China’s football corruption crackdown targets 2 more senior officials
- High-level Chinese Football Association employees under investigation for suspected ‘serious violations of discipline and law’, sports regulator says
- The latest probes involve Qi Jun, head of the CFA’s strategic planning department, and technical department director Tan Hai
According to the Hubei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, the investigations are being led by a joint task force from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country’s top anti-corruption agency.
Qi and Tan are the latest figures in Chinese sport to be caught up in a campaign that has snared nearly a dozen high-level football officials since November.
Among the others to fall from grace are former men’s national football team coach and a former English Premier League player Li Tie, as well as Chen Xuyuan, the CFA’s president and deputy Communist Party chief.
According to Chinese media reports, Tan, 53, is the first referee caught up in the latest anti-corruption drive.
He became a Fifa referee in 2004, going on to referee in the East Asian Football Championships in 2005 and 2008, as well as Fifa World Cup qualifiers in 2014. He has also been a lecturer at Beijing Sport University.