Chinese basketball team gets 3-year ban for match-fixing; club boss, player out for life
Women’s Chinese Basketball Association side Inner Mongolia Nongxin stripped of 2023-24 season results, can return to league in 2029
A Chinese women’s basketball team was hit with a three-year suspension on Wednesday, while one of its officials and a player were banned for life for their roles in a match-fixing scheme.
Inner Mongolia Nongxin, who will not be allowed to compete until May 2029, were also stripped of the runners-up position they secured in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association’s 2023-24 season, while two other officials were handed three-year bans.
In announcing the punishments, the CBA said a court had found that Inner Mongolia Nongxin Basketball Club’s then general manager, Guo Jiajie, and player Zou Qijia sought “illegitimate benefits” for the team and committed “attempted bribery of non-state functionaries”.
Court documents also revealed that Yang Zan, the club’s then head coach, and Ma Jun, then deputy general manager of rivals Shanxi Xing Rui Flame, “personally participated in, initiated, or assisted in match-fixing activities”.
The two teams met only once during the league’s 2023-24 regular season, with Inner Mongolia winning 88-81 on November 10.
The association has banned Guo and Zou from all basketball-related activities for life, while Yang and Ma received three-year bans, effective from May 20, 2026.