The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has confirmed 43 people have received lifetime bans from all professional football-related activities due to gambling and match-fixing, as per Chinese state media.
Some notable figures are involved in the controversy, including three former China internationals in the form of Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu and Gu Chao as well as South Korea’s Son Jun-ho.
Jin retired from football last year and made 18 appearances for the Chinese national team. Goalkeeper Gu has two Chinese caps and retired in January while Guo now plays in Thailand.
Son has won five league titles across South Korea and China and made 20 appearances for his national team.
Zhang Xiaopeng, a high-ranking member of China’s Ministry of Public Security team, shed light on a two-year long investigation that exposed multiple online gambling, match-fixing and bribery cases during a press conference held in Dalian on Tuesday 10 September.
According to Zhang, there were 120 matches, 128 players and 41 clubs involved in the scandal.
Zhang explained: “The Ministry of Public Security reported the details of the first batch of 61 people involved in the cases to the General Administration of Sport of China and the CFA.”
Of the 61 involved, 44 face criminal punishment for bribery, gambling and the opening of illegal casinos, while the remaining 17 were suspected of bribery and match-fixing and are subject to penalties in accordance with regulations.
CFA president Song Kai declared that 43 of the 44 individuals facing criminal charges have already been banned from football for life.
A further 17 individuals have been slapped with five-year bans based on findings by the judicial authorities and CFA regulations.
Those who were given a lifetime ban include 38 professional players alongside five club officials. The five-year ban list is made up of 15 players and two club officials.
Other notable figures to emerge from the investigation include 44-year-old Shen Liuxi, who had already been handed a lifetime ban back in 2013. He was found guilty of opening illegal casinos as part of the most recent sting.
Son is not the only current international player to be embroiled in this scandal, with Cameroon under-23s ace Donovan Ewolo also set for a five-year spell on the sidelines while suspended.
However, Ewolo now plays in Kuwait with Khaitan SC, having most recently played in China with ZJ FC in January 2024.
Similarly, Son is now plying his trade back in his native South Korea with Suwon FC. He last played in China for Shandong Taishan between January 2021 and July 2023.
The CFA’s update read: “According to the facts found by the judicial authorities, Son Jun-ho, a former player of Shandong Taishan FC, participated in illegal transactions, manipulated football matches and obtained illegal gains to seek unlawful benefits.
“His actions seriously violated sports ethics and sportsmanship, causing significant negative social impact.
“The CFA will report the relevant information to international organisations to determine if further action will be taken.”
The banning spree comes less than a month after the former vice-president of the CFA, Li Yuyi, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined ¥1m (£107,257) for taking bribes, as reported by Reuters.
Fu Xiang, ex-director of the football administrative centre in Wuhan and vice-chairman of the Wuhan Football Association, also received the same sentence after being found guilty of embezzlement as well as taking and giving bribes, according to the South China Morning Post.
The post Chinese FA hands out 43 lifetime bans for gambling and match-fixing first appeared on EGR Intel.