Former China soccer head Chen Xuyuan jailed for life after corruption crackdown

A former chief of China's soccer association has been sentenced to life in prison for accepting more than $10 million in bribes, state media reported on Tuesday, following one of the biggest anti-corruption probes in the sport in years. The sentence handed down to Chen Xuyuan came in the wake of probes into more than a dozen high-level soccer officials since late 2022. Chen had brought «tremendous damage» to Chinese soccer, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing a court ruling.

The sport has long grappled with corruption, which fans have blamed for the enduring underperformance of the national team. In 2012, two former chiefs of the same soccer association were each sentenced to 10 1/2 years in jail for taking bribes. Chen, 67, had worked on the docks in Shanghai when he was a youth. He eventually became the head of Shanghai International Port Co in the 2010s, before chairing the Chinese Football Association (CFA) in 2019.

A court in central Hubei province found Chen had taken advantage of his various posts from 2010 to 2023, including those linked to the CFA, to aid others in matters regarding project contracting, investment operations and sports events arrangements, Xinhua reported. In return, Chen accepted money and valuables worth over 81 million yuan ($11.22 million).

In a state TV documentary series on corruption aired in January, Chen confessed to accepting bribes and described one incident the night before he became CFA chairman when he received backpacks containing cash from two local soccer officials. Confessions of corruption have become a common feature on national television since President Xi Jinping came to power and unleashed a sweeping anti-graft campaign.

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