China emulates Nigeria as they sentence former president of the Chinese Football Association to life imprisonment for taking bribes

A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, the country’s state media reported.
An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military.

In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated, according to the Guardian. A court in central Hubei province found that Chen took advantage of his various posts from 2010 to 2023, including those linked to the Chinese Football Association (CFA), to aid others in matters regarding project contracting, investment operations and sport events arrangements, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. In return, Chen accepted money and valuables worth more than 81 million yuan ($11m).

Chen has brought “tremendous damage” to China’s football cause, Xinhua cited the court ruling as saying. The severe sentence for Chen, 67, concludes a probe into high-level football officials in China in a sport that has long grappled with corruption, which fans have blamed for the perpetual underperformance of the national team.

In the last episode of a four-part documentary series on corruption aired on national television in January, Chen said the night before he became the chairman of the CFA in 2019 he had received backpacks each containing 300,000 yuan ($41,562) from two local football officials who wanted him to “take care of them”.
Confessions of corruption have become a common feature on national television since President Xi Jinping came to power and unleashed a sweeping anticorruption campaign that has also ensnared football.