Hao Wei is under investigation for, among other things, alleged match-fixing, which has attracted the attention of other teams and potential beneficiaries. Rumors have swirled that Wuhan Sanzhen and Hao Wei were "secretly colluding" to win the Chinese Super League title. Although the aura of the Chinese Super League title is not what it used to be, its appeal as the top league in Chinese soccer is still not to be underestimated.
So, are Wuhan Sanzhen and Hao Wei really "allies behind the scenes"?
My personal opinion is that the relevance of the three towns of Wuhan to Hao Wei is minimal, from the whole process of the tournament competition to the final result.
First of all, Shandong Taishan has not been soft when facing Wuhan Sanzhen, and both sides ended the two rounds of the 2022 season with a 1-1 draw, without any intentional "watering down" of the game. As we all know, a win means 6 points, which is crucial for teams competing for the title. From the point of view of team strength comparison, Shandong Taishan's defeat to Wuhan Sanzhen is also reasonable, and the two rounds of draws also reflect the possibility of "tacit understanding" between the two sides is extremely low.
Especially at the end of the season, Wuhan Three Town did not show a clear advantage over the champions. At that time, they were only 3 points ahead of Shandong Taishan, who had played one less game. If Hao Wei manipulated the game at this stage to help Wuhan Sanzhen get 3 points, it would seem to be in line with the logic of the "tacit agreement", but this was not the case.
Observation of the two sides of the battle record, Wuhan three towns and Shandong Taishan between the possibility of "secret message" is extremely low.
Secondly, Shandong Taishan also went all out at the crucial moment of the championship.
There is also a hypothesis that Hao Wei colluded with other teams to indirectly create a chance for Wuhan Sanzhen to win the championship. However, observing the key battles in the last few rounds, this hypothesis is not so valid.
After the second round draw between the two sides, Shandong Taishan went all out in the remaining matches and did not have any negative circumstances that would have favored Wuhan Sanzhen to win the title. In the final rounds, Taishan won with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, with the only loss coming against Shanghai Seaport, which makes sense in the context of the power comparison. In one of the matches, Shandong Taishan even beat Shenzhen by a massive 8-0 score, narrowing the goal difference with Wuhan Three Towns.
In addition, Hao Wei's help to Wuhan Sanzhen was limited in terms of the conditions for the final championship. According to the rules of the league, the top three conditions for deciding the winner of the championship include the number of points, the number of goals scored in mutual matches, and the number of goals scored in mutual matches. There is no obvious difference between these two teams in these conditions, Wuhan Sanzhen won the championship mainly due to the overall advantage of the fourth place goal difference. Although Hao Wei can influence the conditions for the top three to win the title, he will not be able to manipulate the fourth place unless a large number of Chinese Super League teams are affected by his influence.
To summarize, it seems logical that Wuhan's three towns won the championship, and it is less likely to be related to Hao Wei's and other people's secret affairs. If Hao Wei has nothing to do with this matter, his identity may be similar to Jin Jingdao. He has been involved in Chinese soccer for many years, both as a well-known player and as a coach of the national team, with a wide network of contacts and interests.
Perhaps Shandong Taishan's performance has been pristine, including a double crown in the 2021 season, and Hao Wei may be utilizing Taishan as a cover to engage in the business of other teams. Of course, all of this is just speculation and the specifics need to be further investigated.
