Soccer chief warns against 'rebound in corruption'

BEIJING - Chinese Football Association (CFA) chief Wei Di on Wednesday warned against a "rebound in corruption" in the sport in the future as a crackdown on rampant corruption in Chinese soccer neared its end.

Wei, who took charge of the CFA in 2010 after dozens of CFA and club officials, referees and players were arrested on charges of match-fixing, gambling and bribe-taking, said that corruption may still exist in soccer despite the efforts to root out the "cancer".

"Lessons have been learned from the scandals, but similar cases might happen again in the future. So we must stay vigilant all along," Wei told reporters in Beijing.

According to Wei, the CFA and police have established a joint anti-corruption mechanism which allows both to share information.

"We are also considering joining hands with the FIFA and Interpol in the fight against corruption to ensure a clean environment for the game," said Wei.

Nan Yong, the former director of the Chinese Football Administrative Center, went on trial Wednesday in a court in the northeastern Chinese city of Tieling, a day after court proceedings opened against his predecessor Xie Yalong on similar charges.

In February, the CFA's ex-deputy chief Yang Yimin was convicted of accepting bribes worth 1.25 million yuan from about 20 clubs to fix fitness test results and sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison.

Zhang Jianqiang, the former director of the association's referee committee, received a 12-year jail term for taking bribes worth a total of 2.73 million yuan on 24 occasions.