Two more soccer officials being investigated

Two more officials from the Chinese Football Association are being investigated for allegedly severely violating Party disciplines and laws, bringing the total number of CFA officials and coaches placed under investigation to 13 since China began intensifying efforts to fight corruption in soccer last November.

According to an official statement released on Saturday, Tan Hai, director of the CFA's technology department, and Qi Jun, director of its strategic planning department, are being investigated by a discipline inspection and supervision team stationed at the General Administration of Sport of China. The team was jointly dispatched by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision, the nation's top anti-corruption watchdogs, as well as the Hubei Provincial Commission of Supervision, the statement said.

Tan became a national-level referee in 1995 and was accredited as an international-level referee by the CFA in 2004. He was named referee of the year in 2011, 2014 and 2015 by the Chinese Football Association Super League.

Qi, who led China's national men's soccer team during the qualification campaign of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, had served as head of the CFA's competition department for many years before taking over its strategic planning department in August 2021.

China's crackdown on corruption in the soccer industry started when Li Tie, former head coach of the Chinese men's team, was placed under investigation in November last year. Since then, 12 officials have faced scrutiny, including Du Zhaocai, deputy director of the General Administration of Sport and vice-president of the CFA, and CFA President Chen Xuyuan.

Gao Zhidan, director of the administration, said at a meeting in May that soccer administrators should fulfill their responsibilities and ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to engage in corrupt practices.