Major Gambling Scandal Rocks China, Sixteen Arrested

Chinese soccer has fallen on hard times in the past couple of years, and on Wednesday some light was shed on why that may have occurred. A major illegal gambling operation was busted, and some top officials from the sport of football were arrested.

Sponsors and fans have been wondering for years what happened to a once proud football sport in China. On Wednesday, they learned that corruption was at the heart of that downfall. Sixteen people were arrested, and many more were questioned.

"The general rule was a team could lose a match by a predetermined point spread if the goalie and two defenders were paid off," said the Liaoning Daily, earlier this month, "but for insurance a striker would also be paid."

The match fixing is believed to have been taking place for several years. Wang Xin and Ding Zhe, two club managers, have both been detained in the sting operation. They reportedly were involved in a match fixing scandal back in 2007, but both were released without any form of punishment.

In the latest arrests, Yang Xu and officials from other football clubs were all detained. Xu is the former Vice head in South China's Guangzhou. The arrests had been reported before by Chinese news agencies, but on Wednesday authorities confirmed the investigation.

November 26, 2009
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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