Trials on soccer corruption open in NE China

DANDONG, Liaoning - Courts in northeastern Chinese cities Dandong and Anshan of Liaoning province opened the second round of trials on soccer corruption on Tuesday.

Ex-chief of China's soccer governing body Xie Yalong faced trial in Dandong, alongside with former manager of the Chinese national soccer team Wei Shaohui, while former general manager of China Football Industry Development Corp. Shao Wenzhong was on trial in Anshan.

According to the court documents, the 56-year-old Xie has allegedly accepted over 1.7 million yuan ($273,000) in bribes from a dozen of companies, clubs and individuals on 12 occasions.

His bribery dated back to 1998 when he was director of the Mass Sports Department of the State General Administration of Sports, before he took charge of soccer as the director of the Football Administrative Center and CFA executive deputy chairman between 2005 and 2008.

Wei Shaohui, who was also deputy director of the FAC's developing department, was accused of taking 1.23 million yuan in bribes for match-fixing.

Both the courts have not yet announced sentences after Tuesday's trials.