The influence of unregulated sport betting in China has been highlighted by disciplinary action taken against two of the country’s most prominent soccer teams.
Guangzhou GPC and Chengdu Blades of the Chinese Super League–the top tier of club soccer in the People’s Republic–face relegation due to allegations of match fixing by officials and gambling by officials and players.
Chengdu Blades is owned by Sheffield United, a club in the second tier of English football that carries the nickname ‘The Blades’ in commemoration of the latter city’s history as a steel-making centre.
Qingdao Hailifeng, a club from the second tier of Chinese football, has also been investigated and faces expulsion from the professional game in China.
All the teams are expected to appeal against the ruling by the Chinese Football League (CFA). But the English language newspaper China Daily said the prospects of success were not strong, citing “a mountain of evidence” against the clubs.
For a nation of 1.3 billion people passionate about soccer, China has produced consistently lacklustre performances at international competition level. Since the national team was set up in 1924, and even accounting for the country’s international isolation between the establishment of Communist government in 1949 and the beginning of economic reform in 1979, China has qualified only once for the FIFA World Cup finals. That was in 2002 when it was knocked out in the first stage. It drew a blank again in the campaign for the 2010 finals in South Africa.
After recent investigations by the CFA, the reasons for that weakness at international level appear to be clearer. Along with allegations that players gambled on games in which they were personally involved, are claims that some players paid for places at the national team’s training camp and for the right to appear in international matches. It has also been alleged some club representatives conspired to fix match results and to bribe referees.
The level of alleged corruption in Chinese club football probably accounts in large part for the popularity of European professional leagues by customers and bookmakers in the regulated and unregulated sport betting market serving China and the rest of Asia.
