Chinese ministries giving boot to gamblers who fix games

BEIJING, Jan. 6 -- The Chinese government has launched a major crackdown on soccer clubs that take bribes to deliberately lose games.

The anti-gambling initiative came on the heels of a soccer scandal in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, this past November, when police arrested members of a sports-betting syndicate and accused the gamblers of allegedly "fixing" the outcomes of domestic soccer league matches.

Soccer club managers and players from Sichuan Province, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province are being investigated by police as part of the anti-corruption campaign led by the Ministry of Public Security.

A supervisory committee to overhaul soccer club regulations is to be jointly established by 10 ministries, working hand in hand to monitor the finances of soccer clubs and stop gambling syndicates from bribing the clubs to throw games.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) disclosed at its annual meeting on Monday that the 10 ministries, including the General Administration of Sport, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration of Taxation, and the National Audit Office, would strictly regulate the operation of Chinese soccer clubs.

Yang Yimin, vice president of the CFA, said the routine work of the supervision committee would be led by the State Council, according to a report in Chengdu Business Daily Tuesday.

"Under the regulation and supervision of so many departments, illegal football gambling among clubs would be traced," Yang was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"If it is strictly enforced, the football gambling would be stopped completely," he added.

"The banks can record the cash flow between football clubs, and the audit departments will detect any fraud in their accounts," he added.

The committee, working with the labor security department, will also help to prevent club owners from withholding salaries.

Soccer fans expressed skepticism that the government watchdogs will be able to clean up the sport.

An online survey conducted by tencent.com showed that only 11 percent of respondents think the committee can get rid of the crimes and boost the development of the sport.

More than 60 percent think the committee could do more to clean up corruption in Chinese football.

(Source: Global Times)