Former Chinese football bosses jailed for bribery

Tieling (China), June 13 (IANS): Two former Chinese football chiefs were sentenced Wednesday to more than a decade in jail for bribery.

Nan Yong, the former director of the Chinese Football Administrative Centre, was given a 10-and-half-year term by a court in the northeast city of Tieling for taking bribes worth more than 1.48 million yuan (about $235,000) between 1999 and 2009, reported Xinhua.

Nan, who was credited with leading China into their only World Cup finals in 2002, was also fined 200,000 yuan (about $31,340) with his illegal gains confiscated.

At another court in Dandong city, Nan’s predecessor Xie Yalong was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison for accepting bribes totalling more than 1.73 million yuan (about $273,000).

Xie, who claimed during April’s court session that he had been tortured into confession, which was later denied by Liaoning police, was also fined 200,000 yuan ($31,340).

Nan and Xie told the courts they needed to consult with their respective attorneys to decide whether to appeal the verdicts.

They were among 11 people who are receiving punishments on Wednesday for their part in the match-fixing and gambling scandal exposed two years ago.

Four former Chinese international players – Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming – charged with taking a total of 8 million yuan (about $1.27 million) to fix a domestic league game, also received jail sentence.

Shen was handed a six-year term while the others were sentenced for five and a half years. They were each fined $79,400.

Li Dongsheng, the former top technical chief in the Chinese Football Administrative Centre, received a nine-year term for bribery and embezzlement. He was also fined 100,000 yuan ($15,700) with his illegal gains of 850,000 yuan ($133,400) confiscated.