Senior officials to take over China’s football body amid corruption crackdown

Seven-member working group headed by Li Yingchuan will lead CFA, government sporting agency says

It comes days after graft-buster announced that another leading figure in the sport is under investigation

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Former national team coach Li Tie is among the football officials under investigation. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 3 Apr 2023Updated: 11:10am, 4 Apr 2023

A team of senior sporting officials will take over operations at the Chinese Football Association (CFA) amid a sweeping campaign targeting corruption in the sport.

The General Administration of Sport of China on Monday said it had set up a seven-member working group to lead its football department, the CFA.

It came two days after the ruling Communist Party’s top graft-buster announced that 63-year-old Du Zhaocai, deputy head of the sports administration and vice-chairman of the CFA, was being investigated for “suspected violations of discipline and law” – a euphemism for corruption.

Du Zhaocai is facing a corruption probe. Photo: Getty Images

The working group is led by Li Yingchuan, an author and education professor who was previously dean of the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports in Beijing, where training for athletes participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics took place.

Li was director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports before he joined the sports administration in 2015 and became its deputy head in 2017.

Some of China’s most senior sports officials make up the rest of the team, including Cao Jingwei, director of the China Institute of Sport Science; Yang Xu, deputy director of the Handball, Ice Hockey, Baseball and Softball Centre; and Yuan Yongqing, a secretary with the graft-buster, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). Yuan is also involved with the Chinese Basketball Association.

Last week, the new CCDI leadership team launched a new round of inspections – indicating more regulatory reform is on the way – targeting the financial sector as well as the General Administration of Sport.