Chinese basketball chiefs slap Shanghai and Jiangsu teams with 5 million yuan fines, ban officials in match-fixing probe
- Shanghai and Jiangsu head coaches Li Chunjiang and Li Nan disqualified and barred from coaching for five and three years
- Clubs both kicked out of play-offs and seasons results erased, while general managers also banned
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Chinese basketball chiefs have handed out heavy punishments to two teams accused of match-fixing in this season’s play-offs.
The Shanghai Sharks and Jiangsu Dragons have both been fined 5 million yuan (US$727,135), officials banned for years, the clubs kicked out of the competition and their results this season erased.
Monday’s move by the Chinese Basketball Association came after the governing body decided the teams had played “in a negative way” last week during games two and three of their play-off series.
As well as the hefty fines, Sharks head coach Li Chunjiang and Dragons head coach Li Nan were both banned from coaching for five and three years.
In addition, the two general managers, Jiang Yusheng at Sharks, and Shi Linjie at Dragons, were barred from taking part in any basketball-related activity for three and five years.
The Dragons were leading 100-96 with less than two minutes to go in the deciding Game 3 in the opening round of the CBA play-offs in Shanghai last Friday.
But the visitors then committed five consecutive turnovers, leading to a 10-0 run from Sharks, who eventually won 108-104 to clinch the series 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals.
The Sharks, meanwhile, had been accused of “giving up” early in the second half of Game 2 so as to ensure key player and former NBA star Eric Bledsoe, who was serving a four-game suspension, would only miss the first match of the quarter-finals series against the Shenzhen Leopards, after sitting out all three games against the Dragons.
In a Weibo post, Xue Sijia, a writer for the Shanghai-based Oriental Sports Daily, said it was normal for teams to exploit loopholes, and pointed to the recent decision by the Dallas Mavericks to “forfeit contention for the play-offs to improve the chances of keeping its first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft”.
The NBA has since fined the franchise US$750,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league”.
After dishing out the penalties, the CBA published a post on Weibo saying “the league and the clubs would learn from the lessons”.
“All league participants must firmly establish correct values, the concept of honour and disgrace, and earnestly abide by national laws, regulations and various management systems of the league,” the post said.
“[We are] to further create a clean and upright league environment, and make unremitting efforts to create a game that satisfies the people.”
Fans on Chinese social media largely supported the league’s decision, although some suggested the punishments had not been harsh enough.
“This is not bad, at least the association is doing something,” one fan wrote on Weibo.
“The penalties are not harsh enough,” read another comment on Weibo. “They should ban the head coaches forever, and disqualify both teams from competing in the league again.”
A third user questioned whether the head coaches should be jailed, while another fan expressed surprise that action had been taken given they “thought there would be insufficient evidence”.
With the Sharks now disqualified from the current season, the Leopards, ranked No 4 in the regular season, advance to the semi-finals.
They will face either Zhejiang Golden Bulls, the league’s top side, or Guangzhou Loong Lions, for a spot in the final.
Guangdong Southern Tigers, Zhejiang Guangsha Lions, Liaoning Flying Leopards and Beijing Ducks are the remaining teams in the other half of the draw.
