FIFA extends China match-fixing bans worldwide

Soccer's governing body FIFA has extended sanctions on 58 Chinese officials and players that will have a worldwide effect, Xinhua News Agency reports.

The 58 were banned by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) on February 18 following a three-year push to clean up rampant corruption in the sport in China.

According to the previous report, the sanctions by CFA's discipline committee involve officials and players, with 25 receiving a five-year ban from all soccer activities while 33 were banned for life.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has extended the sanctions in accordance with article 78 paragraph 1(c) and article 136ff of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. The sanctions were passed on February 18, 2013.

The 58 included two former football chiefs who were jailed in June for accepting bribes.

Nan Yong, the former head of Chinese football, was sentenced to 10 and a half years for taking bribes worth more than 1.48 million yuan ($237, 500) while his predecessor Xie Yalong received an identical sentence and was also fined 200,000 yuan.

Former CFA deputy head Yang Yimin and World Cup referee Lu Jun, the China's "Golden Whistle," were also among the 33 banned from soccer for life.

Others included four former Chinese national team players Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming who were all jailed for up to six years in June for match-fixing.

Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, which recently lost big-name strikers Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka to Galatasaray and Juventus, were fined one million yuan and deducted six points for next season for fixing a game in their 2003 league-winning campaign.

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