Chinese Football Association Bans Former Players, Bosses, Officials For Life

The Chinese football body on Monday "banned two former football chiefs for life and meted out heavy punishments on match-fixing clubs, concluding a three-year-long drive to clean up" Chinese football, according to Jianjie & Bing of XINHUA. Former Chinese football administration heads Xie Yalong and Nan Yong, who have been jailed for taking bribes, "were among the 58 people punished by the Chinese Football Association's discipline commission on Monday afternoon." Twelve clubs including former league champion Shanghai Shenhua "were slapped with heavy fines or deducted points for next season's league." Xie, Nan and former CFA Deputy Head Yang Yimin and World Cup referee Lu Jun "were among the 33 people banned" from football for life. Former Chinese national team players Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming all serving a five-and-a-half year jail term for bribe-taking, "were also banned for life." The CFA discipline commission imposed a 1M yuan ($160,000) fine on Super League club Shenhua, which "had fixed a game" en route to winning the '03 league title. The Shanghai club "was also deducted six points for next season" (XINHUA, 2/18).