Multiple Factors

    Soccer fraud, betting and game rigging have been a thorn in China's side for some time. Since professionalization of the sport in 1994, soccer has gradually become a tool for those intent on making large and illegal profits. According to police, in the beginning, soccer fraud might have consisted of a "wink and a nod" deal. When rivals were on good terms, one team might intentionally throw the match as long as its own interests were not harmed. With the intervention of gambling bookies however, the day of the unvoiced pact was done, and the integration of fraud and betting inevitable. Organized crime manipulated the soccer matches through commercial bribery of virtually everyone who influenced a game, and then they obtained huge profits through offshore betting.

    The big money dangling over their heads seduced certain club officials and soccer players into collusion. Due to mismanagement, some soccer clubs operated at a loss and were unable to pay the salaries of their players. Some club managers proffered aiding and abetting soccer fraud as a solution to the unpaid athletes. "The club has no money. What is to be done? The solution is betting or accepting bribery for soccer fraud," anguished a soccer player who participated in China League-A matches. And what he added is not encouraging even for better managed clubs, "The monthly salary of a starting player in our club is RMB 4,000, bonus included. Those who are not main players earn only RMB 1,000, far less than a bribe or the profits to be had from betting on fixed games."

    There is a dearth of laws concerning sport betting at present, objectively restraining anti-gambling efforts. Lawyer Lü Jianlei said, "According to China's criminal law, the crime of gambling can be punished by imprisonment for up to three years on minor infractions and, in serious cases, up to ten years. But the money involved in one betting scheme ranges from one million to ten million yuan. The profits are huge, and the cost is so little. For certain people, this temptation is irresistible."

    Meanwhile, the malfeasance of the responsible authority is another important factor for rampant soccer fraud and betting. As the administration arm of China's soccer, for years the Chinese Football Association has failed to prevent betting and manipulation. Li Yingfa, a soccer coach, is furious about the matter and unforgiving in his summary: "Chinese soccer is now plagued with so many problems. The performance is poor, and league matches are chaotic. Has the Chinese Football Association done anything concrete about this? Say for strategic planning for the sector or supervision and management of individual events? This is a serious dereliction of duty by the Chinese Football Association."

Can the Coming Crackdown Save Chinese Soccer?

    In the past decade or so, campaigns against soccer fraud, betting and manipulation made the news every now and then, but went nowhere in the end. Will the current crackdown "fix the fixing" of Chinese soccer?

    Many people hope that judicial measures will straighten out the sport once and for all. Su Maozhen, head coach of the National Youth Team, said, "Judicial intervention is hailed by the public. I hope this marks the beginning of the virtuous development of Chinese soccer." A veteran sports journalist Ma Dexing said, "With the intervention of the police and the determination of top leaders to eradicate betting and game rigging, the hard shells that fraud syndicates have built around them will eventually be shattered. As long as enforcement is strong enough, they have to admit defeat before the law." Nan Yong, vice-president of the Chinese Football Association, said, "I hope this action will achieve the expected results, and promote legislation to form a long-term prevention mechanism involving all the relevant departments."

    There are some nay-sayers, people skeptical about the anti-gambling storm underway. Ni Jide, a soccer coach who has cultivated several top national soccer players, said, "Chinese soccer has taken a roundabout course for so many years, and the bad old practices die hard. It is difficult to say how things will turn out." Soccer fan Liu Xiaojian remarks, "The European soccer league has put so many years into controlling fraud. They have zero tolerance of soccer betting and the punishments are stiff, but still they have not eliminated gambling. I think it is unrealistic to think this evil will be wiped out by a single clampdown."

    People with a sociological perspective on sports, like sports scholar Lin Xianpeng, believe, "Anti-gambling actions should not be a one-off but made into a long-term deterrence system. Administrative punishment against soccer gambling should be strengthened. For instance, soccer players who participate in soccer betting should be deprived of their qualifications, teams should be demoted for involvement in betting or rigging, and the soccer clubs implicated in fraud should be fined severely. Meanwhile, soccer clubs need to streamline their operation, so that revenues can be created through fair competition. If the clubs can make profits through legal means the risk of committing fraud will not appeal. Gradually the macro-environment for the sport will improve."

    Dr. Yi Jiandong, a professor at Beijing Sport University, said, "Through continuous surveillance the rot of soccer fraud will die off. But the closer we reach into the heart of the scheme, the greater resistance we may face, for further digging will expose more people and more important clubs, and put their reputations and positions at stake. However, only by pressing on with the investigations can we bring Chinese soccer new hope."