A new round of anti-corruption storm in Chinese soccer has swept through the country, the first large-scale action in 14 years. Compared to 2009, the scale and intensity of the operation has increased dramatically, and the level of Chinese Football Association (CFA) officials punished has climbed even higher. 63-year-old Du Zhaocai has become the highest-ranking official investigated in the soccer sector, and as deputy director of the General Administration of Sport, he has broken the all-time record. The arrest of Chen Xuyuan, president of the Football Association, predates him, but the implication of mid-level officials is equally extensive. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has undergone an almost complete reshuffle, and those CFA officials who have stuck to the bottom line, such as Gao Hongbo and Sun Wen, have remained low-key and committed to the development of Chinese soccer.
The soccer sector has been silent for about two months. I thought the black anti-corruption operation had come to an end, but I didn't expect heavy bombs to detonate one after another. Reporter Xu Jiang revealed that Tan Hai, the former head of the referee department, and Qi Jun, the former captain of the national soccer team, were taken away from the meeting directly for investigation, and their fates were a mystery. Previously, the State General Administration of Sports had given the men the opportunity to be dealt with in a lighter manner if they returned the stolen money and offered to explain themselves. About nine people chose to cooperate and were expected to face lighter penalties, but the direct arrests of Tan Hai and Qi Jun hinted at serious problems.
Li Pingkang, a famous journalist, revealed that it is not clear whether Tan Hai is involved in other referees, but Qi Jun is likely to be provided with the information by the middle level of the Football Association who was arrested before. This suggests that a high-ranking FA official may have confessed and provided Tan Hai with a clue, and the task force will surely use this as a breakthrough to conduct a thorough investigation of the refereeing world. 53-year-old Tan Hai, a former head of the refereeing department and Super League Golden Whistle, whose arrest signals the fall of the refereeing world, is the first referee to be arrested for anti-corruption in 2023.
Within the CFA, Qi Jun is equally pivotal, as he is not only the former head of the competition department, but also the leader of the national team. Domestic media said that at 9:30 a.m. on July 21, all members of the CFA attended an important meeting. During the meeting, Qi Jun, Minister of Strategic Planning and Tan Hai, Minister of Technical Department, were "invited" to leave the venue by cadres from the Discipline Inspection Department of the CFA, and since then there has been no news at all.
In fact, the State General Administration of Sports (SGAS) and the Football Association (FA) had given Qi Jun and Tan Hai the opportunity to do so. on July 18, the deadline for the SGAS to ask officials to come forward and explain their problems. On the last day, two senior FA officials were quickly taken away, and the swiftness of the action was evident. Obviously, Qi Jun and Tan Hai did not take the initiative to explain their problems, nor did they return the stolen money, they will face severe punishment, and I am afraid it is too late for them to regret.
Currently, 13 people have been arrested by the Chinese Football Association (CFA), including leaders of the CFA such as Du Zhaocai and Chen Xuyuan, as well as middle management such as Liu Yi, Chen Yongliang, Wang Xiaoping, Huang Song, Qi Jun and Tan Hai. In addition, Yu Hongchen, former vice-chairman of the Football Association, Li Yuyi, former vice-chairman of the Football Association, and Ma Chengquan, former chairman of the Chinese Super League, were also arrested for having held important positions in the Football Association. The breadth of corruption in soccer this time around is remarkable, and we expect even bigger corruption cases to surface.
