Ex-China deputy soccer chief jailed for graft

BEIJING (AP)—The former deputy head of China’s soccer association was sentenced Saturday to 101/2 years in prison as part of a crackdown on corruption and match-fixing.

Yang Yimin, convicted of taking $200,000 in bribes, was one of 39 people sentenced in a single session by the court in the northeastern city of Tieling, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Others receiving sentences included former head of the referees’ committee Zhang Jianqiang, who received a 12-year sentence for taking bribes totaling $433,000, and the former presidents or head coaches of five clubs in the Chinese league. The club officials received sentences up to eight years for bribery, gambling, and other offenses related to fixing matches.

Others were given sentences of up to 51/2 years for crimes including giving and taking bribes, embezzlement, holding people against their will, and disrupting public services.

The club Qingdao Hailifeng was fined $318,000 for bribery, while Chengdu Blades—a team owned by English League One side Sheffield United—was fined $9,525 on the same charge.

On Thursday, the same court sentenced referee Lu Jun, who officiated two games at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, to 51/2 years in jail for taking about nearly $130,000 to fix seven league matches.

Three other referees and five company and soccer association officials were fined or sentenced to up to seven years for match fixing.

China launched the current crackdown on match-fixing in 2009, hoping to root out gambling, bribery, and other forms of corruption that are blamed for sapping the competitiveness of Chinese soccer.

However, the league’s problems date to at least 2001, when allegations of match-throwing and bribery of referees first emerged.

Meanwhile, China’s performance in international competition slumped as soccer’s popularity among fans lost ground in favor of basketball and young players turned away from the sport in droves.

China was knocked out of 2010 World Cup qualifying last year, failing to make the top 10 sides in Asia. In its only World Cup appearance, in 2002, China lost all three games while failing to score a single goal.