Although not publicly named, but the Nantong Zhiyun club official release of the case announcement confirms that "two players to cooperate with the investigation, can not continue to participate in the league", equivalent to the official announcement Shi Xiaodong and Xu Junmin was taken away.
The issues involved with the two players are still different, I'm afraid.
In addition to playing for Nantong twice, Xu Junmin also played for Shenhua, Shenxin, and Kunshan. After he was taken away, many clues pointed to Kunshan; however, considering that he also had a history of broken behavior after his debut during his playing days at other clubs, his problems did not necessarily arise only during his playing days at a particular club.
So far, Shi Xiaodong has only worked at clubs in Shanghai and Nantong; but he hasn't been to Hong Kong for a minute. Obviously, Shi's problem was during his time in Nantong, and more clues point to the final stages of last year.
Last year in the fourth stage of the Central League, during Heilongjiang Bingcheng's 0-3 loss to Nantong Zhiyun, a Heilongjiang player on the bench said:- "They were afraid of scoring another one, with goals from both sides, but still couldn't see it. They asked for just two goals, less than 2.5 goals and it's over." This comment was released on the air. After the Heilongjiang player finished these words, the voice of "Shimizu Shimizu" (given by the organization) came from the other direction! At that time, many netizens thought there was something wrong with the game.
Maybe someone actually moved the ball at the time, but Correa extended the lead to 3-0 late in that game, meaning the discussion on the Heilongjiang bench didn't come up. Not to mention that Shi didn't concede a goal in that game. Obviously, his performance in that game was not directly related to match-fixing. However, during the last 5-game losing streak last year, Shi played rather bizarrely.
In last year's penultimate fifth round match against Nantong Zhiyun, which was reversed 1-2 by Shijiazhuang Kung Fu, Nan Xiaoheng's ground hacking wasn't very fast; Shi's vision wasn't affected too much; however, Shi put the opponent's long-range shot into his own goal with a slow and bizarre ground tackle.
In last year's Nantong Zhiyun's penultimate fourth round reversal by Nanjing City, Nanjing City's goal came from a quick counter-attack; however, Shi Xiaodong inexplicably rushed out of the penalty area, allowing the opponents to hit an open goal with a 2-defense-2 at the back. After the game, in the comment sections of some platforms, Nantong fans openly blasted some of the players.
In the penultimate round last year, Nantong conceded a goal in the third game that lost but did not hinder the Super League run. Although the opponent was attacking with a header from close range, Shi Xiaodong made a save. But his hands were a bit strange. He ended up missing the ball because he was fully capable of putting it away.
After the overtaking, Nantong Zhiyun took a big rotation for the last two games last year. Veteran Li Huayang replaced Shi Xiaodong, and he didn't play any better than Shi Xiaodong. Nantong Zhiyun lost 0-2 to Heilongjiang and conceded the first goal. The opposing team's attack had advanced to an area close to 30 meters in front of the field. Four defenders defended against three attacking players. Li Huayang actually put an open goal near the penalty spot for the opponent to hang on to!
Considering that veteran goalkeeper Li Huayang was given the opportunity to play all year last year until the team confirmed the overtaking, the lack of form was normal. However, Shi Xiaodong, who played a full year as a starter, finally made a succession of bizarre mistakes last year that were questionable at the time.
This time, with the intervention of the judiciary, when Shi Xiaodong and Xu Junmin were taken away for a week, they unilaterally canceled the contract, and Nantong Zhiyun took the initiative to cut the suspects!
Compared with the Chinese Super League, in the past two years, less attention to the China First Division League exposed more problems, has long been touted as "in the fake". Some of the last wave of anti-gambling and anti-blackmail people, in the tournament system period, China's first division league has entered the tournament "work"! Back when Qin Sheng, Jin Jingdao and others were taken away, some players and officials from China's first division teams had already been taken away. Unfortunately, some of those who were working in the Chinese First Division zone before have been blown away by the wind.
But now, with Xu Junmin, Shi Xiaodong and Wang Qi, who played for Shaanxi last year and West Coast this season, and Teng Shangkun, who played for Qingdao Red Lions this season, recently invited to tea, it's been announced that the lid is being lifted on the past two years of low-level league play. Next, perhaps China A will be more "lively" than the Chinese Super League!
