Two soccer officials face bribery charges

Two former soccer officials stood on trial for multiple charges, including accepting bribes, in courts in central China's Hubei province on Monday.

The People's Court of Shishou, Hubei, publicly heard the case of Qi Jun, former director of the strategic planning department of the Chinese Football Association, on charges of accepting bribes.

Qi, who led China's national men's soccer team during the qualification campaign of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, had served as head of the CFA's competition department for many years before taking over its strategic planning department in August 2021.

Qi was placed under investigation for suspected severe violations of Party discipline and laws by a discipline inspection and supervision team stationed at the General Administration of Sport of China, which was jointly sent by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the National Commission of Supervision, and the Hubei provincial commission of supervision in July 2023.

In another case, the People's Court of Tongcheng County heard the case involving Liu Gang, former vice chairman of the Chengdu Football Association in Sichuan province, on charges of embezzlement, accepting bribes, and offering bribes as an entity.

Last week, five former soccer officials were imposed sentences by courts in Hubei as part of an ongoing anti-graft effort in the sport field, including former CFA vice chairman Li Yuyi, former Wuhan Football Sport Management Center director Fu Xiang and former head of the CFA's competition department Huang Song.