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| 中国开始调查足球腐败。Zhang Jianqiang, the ex-director of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) referee committee, stands trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Tieling city, Northeast China’s Liaoning province, in this still image grabbed from a CCTV news report on Dec 19, 2011. |
中国开始调查足球腐败。TIELING, Liaoning Province - The long-awaited trials for corruption in Chinese soccer started on Monday morning in the northeastern Chinese city of Tieling with ex-official Zhang Jianqiang first appearing on court.
Zhang, ex-director of the Chinese Football Association (CFA)'s referee committee, was arrested in March 2011 for match-fixing and bribery and is facing two charges of bribe-taking and bribery by non-public servants.
The public prosecutor read out the bill of indictment at 8:45 am, charging Zhang with accepting bribes between 1997-2002 when he was deputy director of business department at General Administration of Sport of China, director of female sport department and ex-director of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) referee committee.
The indictment said Zhang accepted a total bribe of 2.38 million yuan（$375,000). Zhang did not deny the charges.
Zhang was the first defendant to stand trial and more people involved in corruption and match-fixing scandals are facing court this week.
According to a notice posted by the Intermediate People's Court of Tieling, a city in Northeast China's Liaoning province, former general manager of Shaanxi club, Wang Po, will appear on court Tuesday on charges of bribe-taking and fraud, followed by Yang Yimin, ex-deputy director of the Chinese Football Administrative Center, who will face charges of bribe-taking on Wednesday morning.
More than 20 people, most of whom are former CFA and club officials, will face trial in the Intermediate People's Court of Tieling this week.
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| 中国开始调查足球腐败。A Chinese soccer fan holds a banner reading "Chinese soccer to revive" outside the Intermediate People's Court of Tieling city, Northeast China's Liaoning province, Dec 19, 2011. |
Meanwhile, several top referees including Lu Jun, a 2002 World Cup referee and the country's "Golden Whistle", will also face trial this week in the Intermediate People's Court of Dandong in Liaoning.
Lu Jun had been hailed as the best referee in China and had officiated in more than 200 top level matches.
As one of the six members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) referee committee, Lu was twice selected as the AFC best referee of the year and officiated at the 2002 World Cup and Olympic Games.
Lu announced retirement in 2005 but was detained for bribery in 2010.
Lu allegedly refereed a match in Shanghai Shenhua's favor to help the club win it in 2003. Lu and Zhang Jianqiang who acted as a middle-man each received 350,000 yuan ($55,000).
China's professional leagues have been plagued with allegations of gambling, match-fixing and crooked referees for years, which, coupled with the national side's poor performances, have long made the soccer a source of disappointment for diehard fans.
The nationwide crackdown on gambling and match-fixing started in March 2009 when a high-profile committee was set up by 12 ministry-level bodies to clean up corruption in Chinese soccer.
Since then, bunches of officials, referees and former players have been detained for their involvement in corruption and match-fixing in soccer games, including former CFA vice-president Nan Yong and his predecessor Xie Yalong.
However, the date for the trial of Nan and Xie has yet to be announced.
Li Songhua, a local soccer fan, celebrated the historic trial outside of the Tieling court on Monday, holding two placards which read "The rebirth of Chinese soccer" and "Hopefully, the resurrection of Chinese soccer starts right here".
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| 中国开始调查足球腐败。Police vehicles transporting ex-soccer officials arrive at the Intermediate People's Court of Tieling city, Northeast China's Liaoning province, Dec 19, 2011. |
