Match-fixing in Chinese soccer is “normal,” but the poor standard of play in domestic leagues makes it difficult to detect, a club manager arrested in a nationwide police probe said.
Qingdao manager Liu Hongwei has been charged with accepting bribes to throw a match against Chengdu Blades in 2007, which helped the English-owned Sichuan club win promotion to the country’s top flight.
Liu, whose arrest with Chengdu president Xu Hongtao and deputy You Kewei was reported in state media on Friday, said it might not have been obvious to the untrained eye that the match was fixed.
“The professionals might be able to see the flaws, but the professionals would have already known about many of these kinds of things in Chinese football. They are normal,” Liu said in an interview with state-run CCTV.
The Chengdu officials are alleged to have given Liu bribes of 500,000 yuan (US$73,250) in cash and in kind to throw the Jia A (second division) match on Sept. 22, 2007, in which Qingdao fielded a second-string team.
“The playing standard of Chinese football is so poor that, even without us defending, they could not score a goal [in the first half]. They were too anxious,” Liu said.
Liu said he had made substitutions in the second half to weaken his team even further and Chengdu finally ran out 2-0 winners.
“Match-fixing is not that obvious,” he said. “We sent on young substitutes, who were truly incapable. Even then it did not look that inconsistent [with normal standards].”
Liu said his players were in no position to object to the match being fixed.
“The players belonged to the club,” Liu said. “They had to follow our arrangement.”
The case is the second to be revealed through state media by a special police task force.
At least four officials were detained last month on suspicion of match-fixing and gambling, which is illegal in China, relating to another Jia A match in 2007 involving Guangzhou and Shanxi.
The crackdown on corruption follows a string of comments this year by leading Communist Party officials — including Chinese President Hu Jintao — that Chinese soccer needed to clean up its act.
Chengdu Blades have been owned by English Championship (second division) club Sheffield United since January 2006.
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
RSS