When China went to war on endemic football corruption

When Tianjin Tianhai surprisingly thrashed Rafael Benitez's Dalian Yifang 5-1 to stay in Chinese Super League in vember, disgruntled fans were quick to allege corruption -- legacy of a murky past that exploded into scandal 10 years ago. Benitez, who led Liverpool to 2005 Champions League title, was perplexed by one of heaviest defeats of his coaching career, saying: "This is a game that I don't quite understand." Despite fan complaints to Chinese Football Association (CFA), case was brought and re is evidence of wrongdoing. But haste with which some supporters claimed match-fixing was proof that deep scars remain, a decade after a major crackdown on graft that ensnared a string of leading figures in Chinese football.

Allegations of organised gambling, crooked referees and match-fixing had dogged sport in world's most populous country for years. Coupled with national side's poor performances, fans were disillusioned, attendances suffered and sponsors fled. It was in this climate in January 2010 that Nan Yong, supremo at CFA, and two or senior CFA figures were hauled in by police on allegations of bribe-taking and match-fixing.

When police raided a Beijing villa belonging to Nan y discovered gold, diamonds and watches that he confessed he accepted from clubs and referees. In a widening corruption investigation, scores of CFA officials, club executives, referees, players and nts were questioned in following months. According to some, crackdown was at behest of Xi Jinping, n vice-president of country who has since become China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

Xi has pledged to make China a leading football power. "It is an open secret that chaos in Chinese soccer is t a matter of (only) one rotten egg spoiling whole pudding," state-run China Daily said in January 2010, urging an overhaul. CFA officials routinely fixed matches, including national team and league games, by buying off players or referees, state media alleged. Some CFA officials also reportedly accepted pay-offs from players desperate to be in national team -- a practice that was also widespread among at club level.

Torture claim

In February 2010, Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals -- who would later be rebranded as Guangzhou Evergrande, winning eight league titles and two Asian crowns -- and Chengdu Blades were relegated for paying bribes. Referees began disappearing into police custody too, among m Lu Jun, who officiated at 2002 World Cup and Olympics, earning nickname "Golden Whistle". Wei Di, who replaced sacked Nan at top of CFA, threatened to cancel 2010 season, saying: "Our goal is to clean up Chinese football, we cant allow this cancer to remain in body." In autumn 2010 dragnet widened and investigations were launched into Nan's predecessor Xie Yalong.

Xie later told a court that police tortured him with electric shocks, beat him and doused him with water during interrogation. y denied claims. Next came detention of Lou Shifang, former general manr of Shanghai Shenhua, who won league title in 2003. y were subsequently stripped of crown. 2010 season did take place but towards end, to prevent referees and players from fixing outcomes of matches, half-time was extended from 15 to 30 minutes so that all second halves would kick off at same time. FIFA was unimpressed by arrangement. "This kind of behaviour amounts to amending football match rules and is obviously a violation of rules," it said.

'Golden Whistle' silenced

In following years, a string of high-profile Chinese football figures were locked up. "Golden Whistle" Lu was among first to be convicted -- along with three or top referees -- in February 2012 for accepting cash to fix seven league matches. He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. Former CFA bosses Nan and Xie were each jailed for about 10 years. Nan would go on to remodel himself in prison as an inventor and writer of fiction stories. By February 2013, 33 people had been banned from Chinese football for life; 25 were handed five-year bans; and at least 12 clubs were punished, of which some were dissolved. Chinese football has since risen in stature at club level, with large-scale investment by Chinese companies and tycoons attracting a flood of players and coaches from overseas.

Im credits: Twitter / AP