27.01.2010
Top football officials in China detained
The former head of China's scandal-ridden football association and other executives have been detained amid a police probe into corruption in the sport, state media reported Wednesday.
The reports indicated charges could be imminent for Nan Yong, former head of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), and its vice director Yang Yimin, who previously were reported to have been taken in by police for questioning.
"Nan Yong, Yang Yimin and others were criminally detained according to the law," the official Xinhua news agency reported, quoting police.
The two men were reported "removed" from their posts last week.
Xinhua last week said the pair were taken in as part of a probe into corruption that has dogged China's beleaguered pro leagues.
It was not clear how many other football chiefs have been detained.
However, the China News Service said Fan Guangming, an official who managed the CFA's amateur league, was suspected of fixing a match in 2006 in a case believed to involve 1.5 million yuan (220,000 dollars).
Following widespread allegations of organised gambling, crooked referees and match-fixing earlier this decade, the CFA announced in late 2006 that it had set up a joint task force with police to root out corruption in the sport.
Previous reports have said at least 21 football and club officials have been formally arrested since November, with police interrogating more than 100 suspects.
In a speech on Tuesday, Sports Minister Liu Peng lamented the state of the game in the world's most populous nation and said deep-seated problems were stopping China becoming a major football powerhouse.
Source: © 2010 AFP - Liu Jin
|
Asia / Asia .jpg)
