Chinese football corruption: 2 more high-profile officials under investigation
- Ex-football association vice-president Li Yuyi and former chairman of the CSL Ma Chengquan ‘cooperating with authorities’
- Chinese investigators have wide powers to hold suspects for lengthy interrogations and pre-trial detention
Two more former Chinese football officials have been placed under investigation for corruption, adding to a list of sports administrators suspected of unspecified illegal activities.
The latest to fall were former Chinese Football Association (CFA) vice-president Li Yuyi, and Ma Chengquan, the ex-chairman of the Chinese Super League Company, which runs the country’s top-flight professional league.
Two-sentence official statements said they were suspected of “serious violations of laws and regulations”, and they were cooperating with authorities.
The statements said they were being investigated by the ruling Communist Party’s corruption watchdog, the sports ministry’s anti-graft body, and by disciplinary authorities in Hubei province, south of Beijing. No details were given about the charges.
Speculation about their alleged misdoings generally centres around embezzlement, the taking of bribes to award positions, and general abuse of power. Government statements have alluded to a lack of proper oversight but have offered few other clues.
Chinese investigators have wide powers to hold suspects for lengthy interrogations and pre-trial detention. Even once verdicts are rendered, however, many of the details are kept from the public.
Nearly a dozen serving and retired officials in football and sports administration are under investigation, including former national coach Li Tie, who once played in midfield for Everton and Sheffield United, and CFA president Chen Xuyuan.
Chen was also vice-chairman of the CFA’s Communist Party committee, underscoring the national leadership’s heavy hand in attempting to direct success in the game.
Perhaps the highest-profile official to fall is the former deputy head of the General Administration of Sports, Du Zhaocai, a former vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation and member of the Fifa council.
President Xi Jinping, who has extended his control into almost all areas of Chinese economic, social and political life, declared a plan to make the country a football superpower that appears to have hit the buffers in a major way.
Under party control, funding and enthusiasm have dwindled, China’s men have failed to rise from their lowly ranking, and the Chinese Super League – whose latest season began last month – has run into financial problems.
At the same time, Xi has pursued his signature anti-corruption policy, taking down political rivals in the process.
