Life sentence for former chairman of the Chinese Football Association for corruption

The former head of the Chinese Football Association CFA will spend the rest of his life in prison for corruption. The People’s Court convicted Chen Xuyuan in a major anti-corruption investigation in Chinese football.

The 67-year-old Chen admitted that during his time as director of the Shanghai International Port Group and as head of the CFA, he had abused his position by awarding jobs and contracts in exchange for bribes. He admitted in court that he received a total of more than 81 million yuan (11.3 million euros) for this.

“Chen’s bribery seriously distorted fair competition in the football sector and caused serious damage to national football development,” the court said. According to the court, the life sentence is still “lenient” because Chen has confessed. In addition to the prison sentence, Chen’s political rights and personal assets will be stripped.

Confession on TV

The case was broadcast on national television in a four-part documentary. In it, Chen admitted that on the evening before he took office as chairman of the Chinese Football Association, he received two backpacks with 300,000 yuan (more than 40,000 euros) each.

At least ten other football officials were also interrogated in the case, including three former top executives within the Chinese football world. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from fourteen years to eight years.

Chinese football has been struggling with large-scale corruption for years. In 2012, chairman Xie Yalong and his successor Nan Yong were sentenced to ten years and six months in prison respectively for taking bribes.