China hands down terms of life to 8 years for sports officials convicted of taking bribes

The former president of the Chinese Football Association has been sentenced to life in prison amid a wide-ranging crackdown on sports corruption.

Chinese courts yesterday handed down sentences of between eight years and life in prison to officials in the Communist Party-controlled sports programs, accusing them of taking bribes and committing other financial crimes.

Chen Xuyuan, the former CFA president, received a life sentence for helping fix matches and using his various positions to commit financial crimes, state media reported.

Xinhua reported that all of Chen’s personal property would be confiscated and his illegal gains would be recovered and turned over to the state treasury.

Other high-ranking officials sentenced to prison for taking bribes included the former head of the National Athletics Association, Hong Chen, who was sentenced to 13 years, former high-ranking soccer official Chen Yongliang, who received 14 years, and Dong Zheng, former CEO of Chinese Football Association Super League Company, for eight years.

The league is largely backed by real estate firms that have become overextended and cannot deliver finished apartments or pay back their debts.