As the winds of anti-corruption continue to blow through China's soccer world, the Football Association (FA) is in a state of internal turmoil. Wang Xiaoping, the director of the Disciplinary Department, and Huang Song, the head of the Competition Department, have not been spared, and are suspected of major offenses. Former national soccer coach Li Tie, FA Secretary General Liu Yi, Deputy Secretary General Chen Yongliang, and current President Chen Xuyuan have also been caught in the net. The anti-corruption storm has resulted in six top executives of the FA being taken away.
Some of the inner workings of the top management of the Football Association have also been revealed. Wang Xiaoping during his tenure, issued 3.5 million tickets, the destination of the funds is a mystery, it is suspected that all accounted for personal accounts. Chen Xuyuan and other people's wrongdoing has also been exposed, former Sports Weekly reporter Ran Xiongfei broke the news that Chen Xuyuan and Liu Yi received 50 million general manager of the Shenzhen men's soccer team Ding Yong's huge amount of money.
The media person revealed, "Take Ding Yong as an example, he helped Shenzhen to qualify for the Chinese Super League during the period of Tianjin Tianhai, and hacked Tianhai by improper means. The 50 million not only impressed Chen Xuyuan and Liu Yi, but also enlisted the soccer newspaper and other media people."
The amount of $50 million in illegal gains is staggering. Recall that Xie Yalong, the former chairman of the Football Association, received a private bribe of 1.36 million yuan to help Shandong Luneng win the championship, and was eventually fined 910,000 yuan and sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison. If Chen Xuyuan is measured by this standard, the illegally obtained 50 million dollars is enough to make him sentenced to more than ten years in prison, the amount of money is staggering. It is worth noting that Chen Xuyuan's illegal gains are not inferior to the former national football manager Li Tie, who earned an annual salary of 30 million in Wuhan Zhuoer on the basis of two years of total income of up to 60 million. At the time, Chen Xuyuan also fought for Li Tie's high salary.
Ding Yong was taken away by the official discipline inspection team for being involved in huge sums of money and all those involved were arrested. It is believed that the disciplinary team will dig further and may involve more Chinese soccer players. Former international player Xu Liang said that if he wants to save Chinese soccer, there needs to be a major bloodletting of the CFA by replacing all the managers. Judging from the arrests of Li Tie, Chen Xuyuan and other top six leaders, Xu Liang's suggestion may be worth pondering.
