More Convictions In China’s Soccer Bribes Scandal

Another raft of sentences has been handed down in the bribes-taking scandal that has plagued Chinese football. Most prominent among the latest 39 convictions are:

• Yang Yimin, the former deputy chief of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), who has been sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for taking bribes totaling 1.3 million yuan ($206,000). He will also have personal property worth 200,000 yuan confiscated.
• Zhang Jianqiang, former head of the referees’ committee, who has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking bribes totalling 2.7 million yuan. He will have  personal property worth 250,000 yuan confiscated.
• Li Zhimin, former president of Shaanxi Guoli Club, who has beeb sentenced to five years in prison for taking bribes totaling 2.5 million yuan. He has had personal property worth 250,000 yuan confiscated.

Earlier in the week, China’s former top referee, Lu Jun, was sentenced to five and a half years in jail for accepting bribes. Trials are still pending for several more former CFA officials, including former vice president Nan Yong and his predecessor Xie Yalong, and the former head of the national team, Wei Shaohui.