The Communist Party of China has opened an anti-corruption investigation into the country’s main sports body, the General Administration for Sport, following the line taken early last month in the case against the National Football Association, which now extends to all competitions under the supervision of this state entity.
The sports administration, which is also responsible for the China Sports Federation and the Chinese Olympic Committee, is now under the scrutiny of the so-called Central Steering Group for Inspection Work, the body set up by the party to manage nationwide disciplinary inspections.
According to the communiqué of the Communist Party of China, collected this Sunday by the state newspaper ‘Global Times’, the investigation, which will last for a month and a half, will study possible “violations of discipline at the political, organizational, labor and integrity” among members of the sports administration.
The head of the working group, Li Yingchun, has insisted on the need, with this investigation, to “resolve in the world of sport, rooted as it is in its institutional mechanisms” to provide “strong guarantees” when it comes to “building a national sports power”.
The investigation expands the investigations that began in early March against nine senior officials of the Chinese National Football Association, including the highest representative of the Communist Party in the institution, its secretary Du Zhaocai; the president of the association, Chen Xuyuan, and the former coach of the Chinese national soccer team, Li Tie.
Du, 63, was finally accused of seriously violating anti-corruption laws and is subject to disciplinary review, according to what the also state-run ‘People’s Daily’ reported on April 4.
The former vice president of the Chinese Football Association, Yu Hongchen, who is currently president of the Chinese Athletics Association, and Dong Zheng, former managing director of the Chinese Super League, have also been investigated for corruption offences.
