For several consecutive seasons, the frequent occurrence of penalty problems in the Chinese Super League A has triggered extensive public discussion. In an interview with the media, Chen Xuyuan admitted that there is a gang phenomenon in the refereeing world, however, this long-standing problem has not been substantially resolved, which is feared to be a reflection of Chen Xuyuan's failure to effectively fulfill his duties. As Chen Xuyuan's investigation deepens, his personal social media accounts have quickly become the focus of fans' attention.
Chen Xuyuan's arrest comes at a time when some of his past comments have sparked heated debate among netizens. He had publicly slammed gold-dollar soccer, claiming that he would not advocate it even if he was not the chairman. Ironically, however, he was an active promoter of gold-dollar soccer during his tenure as owner of the Hong Kong club, investing heavily to win the league's top spot.
On the very day that Liu Yi was arrested along with Chen Yongliang on January 19, Chen Xuyuan also expressed his full support for soccer's anti-corruption drive in a high-profile manner. At last week's Football Association Warning Education Conference, he delivered a speech strongly condemning corruption in soccer and predicting that corruption would be difficult to eradicate and that Chinese soccer would be in a state of perpetual unrest. However, nowadays, looking back at these once grandiose words, one cannot help but feel the irony.
Is Chen Xuyuan's fall the end of the anti-corruption investigation? Media personality Zhao Yu said that his downfall does not mean that all the problems have been solved, as he is not yet the worst example. Journalist Qin Yun also believes that Chen Xuyuan's fall may not be the end of the line, but may mark a new turning point as the storm continues to sweep across the Chinese soccer world.
The current anti-corruption campaign in soccer has affected many FA officials, national team coaches, club coaches and some current or retired players, but has not yet reached the referee level. Will referees be touched in the future? All this is still unknown, we can only wait and see what happens.
