By McGeorge Mbare
The Chinese Football Association has banned 38 soccer players and five club officials for match fixing and gambling after a two years investigation.
Back in history of football corruption in China, it’s not the first time for players and officials banned for example back in 13 February 2023, the BBC reported Chinese media has reported 33 players and officials banned after Shanghai Shenshua was found guilty of offering bribe to officials to secure a 4-1 victory against Shanxi Gouli.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Zhang Xiaoping the top police official, attended the news conference at Dalian to release details of a “two-year investigation that uncovered a series of online gambling, match-fixing and bribery cases of the 43 players and officials banned.
International news outlet CNN news reported that midfielder Jin Jingadao, forward Guo Tianyu and the goal keeper Gu Chao who plays for Zhejiang FC from China will no longer take part in football for life.
South Korean Son Jun-ho, who played for China’s Shandong Taishan FC, and Ewolo Donovan of Cameroon, who formerly played for Heilongjiang Ice City, were luckily given five-year bans.
According to the Federation’s statement Son’s activities “seriously violated sports ethics and sportsmanship causing a significant negative impact on society,”
Several news reports trolled the Chinese national team for instance ESPN poured salt on the wound, calling Chinese soccer a “notoriously underperforming sport”