China bans 73 people from football for match-fixing scheme.

247 - The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced on Thursday one of the biggest disciplinary actions ever taken in the country's sport, banning 73 people for life from corruption and match-fixing schemes. Among those punished is Li Tie, former national team coach, as well as officials and other agents linked to professional football. The crackdown also affected elite clubs, with point deductions and financial penalties.

The tightening of measures is part of an anti-corruption campaign promoted by the Chinese government in recent years. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the country has been expanding investigations that have revealed the structural and ethical weaknesses of local professional football.

According to the ACF, the punishments are the result of a “systematic review” conducted by the organization. In an official statement, the association affirmed that the sanctions are necessary “to reinforce discipline in the sector, purify the football environment and guarantee fair competition.” However, the organization did not specify when the irregularities occurred nor did it detail the workings of the identified illicit schemes.

Li Tie, who played for Everton and Sheffield United, managed the Chinese national team between 2019 and 2021. In 2024, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery. With the new ACF decision, the former coach is definitively banned from holding any position related to football for the rest of his life.

Another prominent name among those sanctioned is Chen Xuyuan, former president of the Chinese Football Association itself. He is serving a life sentence after being found guilty of accepting bribes estimated at around US$11 million, in one of the most emblematic cases of the institutional crisis faced by the sport in the country.

In the sporting arena, the punishments affected 11 of the 16 clubs that competed in the 2025 Chinese Super League season. The penalties include point deductions and financial fines, directly impacting the standings of the next edition of the championship. Tianjin Jinmen Tiger and Shanghai Shenhua, the national runner-up, will suffer the most severe sanctions: they will start the 2026 season, scheduled for March, with 10 fewer points and a fine of 1 million yuan, equivalent to approximately US$144.

Shanghai Port, winner of the last three editions of the league, will lose five points and have to pay a fine of 400 yuan, about US$58. The same punishment was applied to Beijing Guoan, another traditional Chinese football club. The measures reinforce the attempt by sports authorities to restore the credibility of competitions and curb illegal practices that have compromised the integrity of football in the country.