The Hong Kong media Sungdo Daily reported on the 26th that a cold wave is blowing in the Chinese football world at the beginning of the new year, with executives of the Chinese Football Association dropping horses one after another in connection with the match-fixing scandal.
The Hubei Provincial Communist Party’s Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Commission recently announced on its website that Chen Yongliang, executive secretary of the China Football Association and head of the Chinese national football team’s administration, was under investigation for serious violations of discipline.
Seongdong Ilbo reported that Cheon Yong-ryang was predicted to be knocked out of the horse as he did not attend the Football Association Executive Committee held on the 15th.
He is a giant in the Chinese football world who started as a low-level employee of the Chinese Super League Association, went through general manager and director, and rose to the position of executive secretary of the Football Association.
Previously, Hu Guangyu, deputy director of the Political and Legal Affairs Bureau of the General Administration of Sports, was subject to investigation by the Discipline Supervisory Commission on charges of violating discipline on the 9th, and Liu Yi, secretary-general of the Chinese Football Association, was dismissed on the 15th.
In addition, former national men’s soccer team coach Ritya was also investigated for violating discipline in November last year when the 2022 Qatar World Cup was in full swing.
Former coach Li, who played as a midfielder for the Chinese national team during the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, took command of the Chinese men’s national soccer team in January 2020, but withdrew in December 2021 during the preliminary round after repeated sluggishness in the World Cup qualifiers in Qatar.
Three soccer players who were national players at the time of Lee’s former coach are also being investigated by the authorities. Chinese authorities and local media disclosed the facts of the investigation against them, but did not disclose specific charges.
Regarding this, the Sungdo Daily said, “Former manager Li and soccer players were investigated for match fixing, and after that, several executives from the Football Association and the National Sports Administration dropped their horses.” There are about 20 people,” he said.