For years, many Chinese soccer fans like me have been baffled by the fact that, despite China’s 1.4 billion people, the country has not been able to field a skilled enough team to compete in international competitions at the highest level while suffering many humiliating defeats in qualification rounds to countries with much smaller populations and with worse training facilities. This is especially puzzling when Chinese athletes in other sports have succeeded in various world championships, such as table tennis, badminton and diving.
Now we know why! It’s due mainly to gross mismanagement often linked to endemic corruption within the soccer hierarchy. Specifically, it is plagued by illegal activities such as rampant match-fixing and gambling. On April 13, the deputy director of the General Administration of Sport of China (GAS), Du Zhaocai, who also held the post of Party secretary of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), was dismissed from his vice-ministerial level position, making him the highest-ranking administrative official to be caught so far in the country’s sweeping corruption crackdown over the sport.
Another scandal occurred when the former head coach of the national men’s soccer team, Li Tie, was placed under investigation for suspected “serious violations of discipline and law” on Nov 26, 2022. Several soccer officials and club personnel are also being investigated.
In the first three months of this year, the disciplinary authorities announced probes into at least six other senior soccer officials, including the CFA’s executive deputy secretary general in charge of national team management and its disciplinary committee director.
Recently, a youth soccer match in August 2022 between two teams of under-15-year-olds in Guangdong was suspected of match-fixing after one team scored four goals during the second half of the game, as they overturned a 3-1 deficit to win 5-3. The Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission confirmed that foul play had occurred during the game and sacked provincial- and city-level sports bureau directors over it. The involvement of promising young players in match-fixing is shocking not just for its moral decrepitude but also in how it could corrupt and destroy their future in the sport. No wonder we never get to see our best young players advance to the highest level of international competition, as they have been sacrificed on the altar of Mammon.
The main problem appears to be soccer betting, which includes not only illegal betting in general but also betting by club managers, coaches and players, who then manipulate games to achieve the desired outcomes. Other common practices involve coaches and referees accepting bribes from players to help them make it on local teams or the national team, accepting kickbacks from agents for transfers and embezzling sponsorship funds for personal use.
The root cause of the problem in the mismanagement of CFA is conflicts of interest. When CFA management have interests in local clubs, it is difficult for them to act fairly and objectively.
From my decades of experience in battling corruption, I’ve found that one of the most intractable obstacles in combating corruption is the old face-saving tenet: “Don’t wash your dirty laundry in public”, which leads to corruption scandals being swept under the carpet. The fact that all these soccer scandals were officially publicized indicates a new approach by the authorities.
China sports should embrace a policy of stringent codes of conduct, zero tolerance of corruption, encouraging whistleblowers, declarations of conflict of interest and a strong internal monitoring system as well as a public complaint and investigation system to deter any corrupt malpractice. With this coordinated, determined effort to clean house, China’s soccer team can be competitive at the highest level internationally before long
Indeed, corruption in sports is not unique to the Chinese mainland. Even in Hong Kong, despite the presence of its world-renowned corruption watchdog, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), there have been cases over the years of horse race fixing and soccer fixing, in conspiracy with illegal betting syndicates. The FIFA scandal in 2015 involved several high-ranking officials at international soccer’s governing body accused of taking bribes and engaging in corrupt practices, which led to the resignation of its then president Sepp Blatter.
It’s therefore reassuring to learn that on April 28, during a public seminar, the head of GAS, the national sports supervising agency, announced the nation’s uncompromising commitment to eradicate corruption in sports and to promote a culture of integrity and sportsmanship. A special 30-member inspection team from the powerful Central Discipline Commission has been dispatched to examine GAS’ operations.
GAS issued a warning to cadres at all levels that “they must learn from the past with warning bells ringing at all times” during a Party meeting this month.
No one should doubt the determination and commitment of the central government to eradicate corruption in the sports sector. Past efforts and the unprecedented success against all levels of corruption since the 18th National Congress of the CPC have demonstrated just that. As President Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized, there should be zero tolerance for corruption and all hidden dangers in all sectors must be rooted out.
Some lessons can be drawn from the successful integrity management in Hong Kong sports. Take Hong Kong Squash, which won the Directors of The Year Award in 2017 by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors in recognition of its commitment and achievement in demonstrating high standards in corporate governance. Its integrity system starts with a comprehensive code of conduct governing the conduct of the body’s management, coaches, referees as well as players. The code prohibits any solicitation and acceptance of all kinds of advantages, including gifts, loans and lavish entertainment. Most importantly, it requires avoiding and declaring any possible or perceived conflicts of interest.
The key to its success is uncompromising integrity from the get-go. It starts with the promotion of mini squash in primary schools. Many young talents, including most current elite players, were identified at this stage. There are four ladders, from district to region, for qualified and talented players to progress to the top professional national team. The critical success factor of the feeder system is that it is based on integrity, openness and fairness. No player can go through the back door to jump any stage. Selection is not made by one individual but by a selection panel, wherein members must declare any conflict of interest with any players and be excused from the panel. The same standard applies to the selection of players in international competitions. There is an appeal channel available for any aggrieved cases. In addition, there is a public complaint channel, and every complaint will be investigated thoroughly by the disciplinary committee of the association when practicable.
The ICAC has on its website a useful guideline, “Best Practice Reference for Governance of National Sports Association”, which outlines in detail the role of the governing body, the formulation and promotion of a code of conduct, the selection of players, the management of coaches and referees, etc. This guideline should be a useful reference for CFA.
In sum, China sports should embrace a policy of stringent codes of conduct, zero tolerance of corruption, encouraging whistleblowers, declarations of conflict of interest and a strong internal monitoring system as well as a public complaint and investigation system to deter any corrupt malpractice. With this coordinated, determined effort to clean house, China’s soccer team can be competitive at the highest level internationally before long.
The author is an adjunct professor of HKU Space and a council member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies. He is also a retired deputy commissioner of ICAC.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.