Football scandal lands four Chinese refs in jail

World Cup, were the first to be sentenced over the match-fixing and gambling scandal since it was exposed over two years ago.
Lu was convicted of accepting 810,000 yuan (US$128 000) to fix seven league matches and sentenced to five-and-a-half years, the report said, citing court documents.
Gambling, match-fixing, crooked referees and poor performances by the national team have made the sport the laughing stock of increasingly indifferent Chinese fans, and a matter of state concern.
The scandal brought down top Chinese Football Association (CFA) heads Nan Yong and his successor Xie Yalong and several vice heads, including Yang Yimin, whose trial verdict will be read out on Saturday.
The court in northeast China’s Liaoning province also confiscated 100 000 yuan in property from Lu, Xinhua said. Former referees Huang Junjie, Wan Daxue and Zhou Weixin were jailed for seven years, six years and three and a half years respectively.
Huang was convicted of accepting bribes on 20 occasions to the amount of over 1,48 million yuan, Xinhua said.
In media interviews since their arrests, Lu and Huang, dressed in orange prison guard, tearfully recounted how they were routinely ordered by CFA officials to take bribes to fix both domestic and international matches.
Several former members of the CFA referee committee are awaiting trial, as are Nan and Xie.
Some of the crooked match calls were so obvious that fans began to riot or the victimised teams walked off the pitch.
China Central Television for parts of several seasons refused to broadcast Superleague matches due to the scandal.
Following yesterday’s sentencings, popular Internet portal Sina.com held an online vote with about 90 percent of the respondents saying the sentences were too light.
The court yesterday further sentenced the former head of the Superleague’s commercial arm Lu Feng to six and a half years in prison for paying former CFA head Nan 50 000 yuan and accepting bribes amounting to 1,4 million yuan, Xinhua said.
Calls to the Dandong court and to lawyers went unanswered yesterday.
According to state media, a court in Liaoning tomorrow will read out the verdicts and sentences in the trials of up to 24 more league and club officials. – AFP.