This anti-corruption campaign against Chinese soccer has been going on for more than four months since the beginning of 2023. So far, almost all the leaders of the core departments within the CFA have fallen from grace. From Li Tie, the former head coach of the national soccer team, to Liu Yi, the secretary general of the CFA, from Chen Xuyuan, the president of the CFA, to Wang Xiaoping, the head of the CFA's disciplinary committee, and even Du Zhaocai, the deputy director of the General Administration of Sport (GAS), have all been investigated. There are now nine senior officials related to Chinese soccer who have fallen from grace. So far, there are only two senior officials within the CFA, women's soccer legend Sun Wen and former national soccer coach Gao Hongbo.
So now, the specific positions and functions of Gao Hongbo in this group of seven were also announced on April 7, Li Yingchuan let Gao Hongbo subdivided referees and competition department work.
Prior to this anti-corruption drive, Huang Song, the former head of the CFA's competition department, was in charge of this function. on March 24, he was under investigation for allegedly committing a serious disciplinary offense. Now Gao Hongbo is in charge of the referee and competition department, which is basically equivalent to replacing the fallen senior official. And Gao will also personally go to Hangzhou to inspect the new Super Cup held at Hangzhou's Huanglong Stadium against last season's Chinese Super League champions Wuhan Sanzhen and last season's F.A.C. Cup winners Shandong Taishan.
Therefore, we also conclude that Gao Hongbo and Sun Wen are safe in their fight against corruption in Chinese soccer this time around, especially Gao Hongbo. Gao Hongbo, now 57 years old, has been known for his dedication over the years and had a great coaching career with the national team. Even after his dismissal, national soccer great Fan Zhiyi made a point of standing up for him. However, Gao Hongbo keeps a low profile and doesn't like to steal the limelight, which doesn't give him much of a chance to show off his management skills. This time.
Compared to his coaching career, Gao Hongbo also had an excellent athletic career. He played in Beijing, Singapore, New Baru and Guangzhou Songri. During his time at the club, Gao led Beijing Guoan to win the Chinese Football Association Cup in 1996. During his career with the national team, Gao Hongbo also led the team to win the 1985 Asian Youth Championship. At that time, Gao Hongbo scored 5 goals and was ranked first in the top scorer list. Again, this Asian Youth Championship was the first Asian title in the history of the Chinese men's soccer team, which then helped the Chinese team win the Asian Cup in 1992.
After his retirement, Gao Hongbo did not want to leave the front line and became a coach. He initially served as the coach of Yatai and later led the team to win the Chinese Super League title. It was during that time that Gao Hongbo's coaching ability was recognized by the CFA. After that, Gao Hongbo was invited to become the head coach of the Chinese men's soccer team twice, and the first time he led the national soccer team to beat South Korea and France, which also made him famous!
Gao Hongbo's second stint as coach of the national soccer team came at a critical time when the national soccer team was at a low ebb, and then helped the Chinese men's soccer team advance to the Top 40. Therefore, after Gao Hongbo, many fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the position of the national football coach. Among them, Fan Zhiyi even shouted at the CFA for Gao Hongbo, claiming "Gao Hongbo is quite good, you go and replace him. You tell me what this is for!" Despite Fan's straight talk and short temper, it's clear that Gao Hongbo was replaced right from the start. As a famous national soccer player, he was very angry
What's more worth pondering is that when Gao Hongbo responded to the reason why he was replaced by the coach of the National Football League, he claimed that "it may be that the team's renovation has caused some benefits, and it may also be that some people don't like me in this position too much." Looking back now, it's really memorable. Perhaps Gao Hongbo's words not only explain why so many senior officials of the Football Association have been taken away for investigation, but also explain why Gao Hongbo is safe in this anti-corruption campaign and has been reused in the "seven-member team" of the General Administration of Sport.
Then, after Gao Hongbo became vice president of the CFA, he did not choose to become an official to achieve results. Instead, he chose to retreat to the second line to engage in the most bitter and unappealing job of youth training. Now, with the fall of Chen Xuyuan, Huang Song, Wang Xiaoping, Liu Yi, Chen Yongliang, Du Zhaocai and others, Gao Hongbo has finally risen from the second tier to the first tier, and was eventually rehired.
