China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said that the country's sports establishment "must learn the lessons from a corruption scandal involving a former deputy sports minister, continue to root out graft, and curb a win-at-all costs mentality," according to Ben Blanchard of REUTERS.
Corruption in int'l sport is in focus due to U.S. and Swiss probes into FIFA, "as well as doping scandals that have rocked tennis and athletics."
China, "which is aggressively seeking to stamp out graft in Communist Party and government ranks, has also sought to eject corrupt elements from its sports establishment," particularly within football, which has been hit by match-fixing scandals. China "was hit by two new sports graft scandals last year," with probes into Deputy Sports Minister Xiao Tian, who sat on China's Olympics committee, and another into the country's then-volleyball chief. In a statement released following a meeting on learning the lessons from Xiao's case, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said that "the sports sector needed to do more to tackle graft and not rest on its laurels." The commission's team based in the sports ministry said, "At the same time as fully affirming successes, we must clearly recognize the many challenges facing the development of our sports industry, and that the problems which exist should not be overlooked. Put effort into resolving all the problems that come from putting the winning of gold above all else that distorts the spirit of sports."
Chinese Sports Minister Liu Peng warned last year that "China had to ditch its gold obsession if it really wanted to weed out corruption" (REUTERS, 4/7).
