Five defendants in a series of high-profile corruption cases in China's soccer sector were sentenced on Tuesday (26) in the first trial in Hubei province. The Huangshi Intermediate People's Court in Hubei Province sentenced Chen Xuyuan, the former chairman of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property for the crime of accepting bribes; and the illegal proceeds of the bribes were recovered according to the law and surrendered to the state treasury. According to earlier reports, Chen Xuyuan took 217 bribes over a period of 13 years, and all the stolen money has been recovered and returned. In the course of the trial, he pleaded guilty and regret, bowing to the fans for nearly 10 seconds in his final statement.
The Huangshi Intermediate People's Court found that from 2010 to last year, Chen Xuyuan successively used his position as President and Chairman of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd., Head of the Preparatory Team for the Changing of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chairman of the CFA, and other positions, as well as his position of power and authority to form the convenient conditions, to help the relevant units and individuals to illegally accept in the contracting of projects, investment operations, tournament arrangements, etc.. The total amount of money given by others exceeded 81.03 million yuan (RMB, the same below, approximately 8.74 million Hong Kong dollars).
The court held that during his tenure at the CFA, Chen Xuyuan sought undue benefits for a number of soccer clubs and local football associations, seriously undermining the order of fair competition in the field of soccer and the ecological environment of the industry, and seriously harming the cause of national soccer. There are discretionary aggravating circumstances for promoting and adjusting positions for others. As he did not actually obtain a bribe of 4 million yuan (about HK$4.38 million), he confessed truthfully to his crime after the case and took the initiative to explain some of the facts of the bribery offences that the monitoring authorities had not yet grasped. In addition, he exposed the criminal acts of others and made meritorious contributions, and the court imposed the above sentence, which was a minor punishment.
In addition to the case of Chen Xuyuan, the Huangshi Intermediate People's Court also sentenced Yu Hongchen, former chairman of the Chinese Athletics Association, to bribery in the first instance. The cases of Chen Yongliang, former executive deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Football Association and former minister of the National Team Management Department, Dong Zheng, former general manager of China Fordbest Football Industry Development Company and former general manager of China Super League Limited, and Liu Lei, former deputy director of the Wuhan National Fitness Center for accepting bribes and accepting bribes, were heard in the People's Court of Xian'an District of Xianning City, People's Court of Songzi City, and the People's Court of Jiayu County, respectively, in Hubei Province.
