Chinese football's embattled governing body has promised to open its books to the public amid allegations of rampant corruption and disputes over commercial rights, officials and state press said yesterday.
China Football Association (CFA) vice president Yan Shiduo promised at an emergency meeting late on Monday that the governing body would open its financial reports to all 12 football clubs this year, the China Daily Web site reported.
"I promise to open the CFA's financial reports this year," Yan was quoted as saying. "The financial situation of the league is sure to need improvement," he said.
Clubs from China's professional league have accused the CFA of a lack of transparency and of corruption, including the fixing of matches and not sharing commercial revenues.
The 10-year-old professional league is hampered by inept officials and lacklustre play and had also not proven a commercial success, despite strong investment and strong government backing.
In a bid to liven up the action, the association this year slimmed the league down from 15 to 12 teams, playing 132 matches, and polished its image.
But five months later the league has spiralled into crisis, with clubs calling for widespread reforms and some vowing to pull out of league matches if action was not taken against the alleged corruption.
The acrimony came to a head this month when Beijing Hyundai players walked off the pitch against Shengyang Jinde when the referee awarded a penalty for a questionable foul.
The game triggered a boycott by Beijing manager Yang Zuwu, who launched into an angry tirade over "faked matches, black whistles [corrupt referees], betting on games and other ugly phenomena" in the league.
"Some clubs, some players, even some coaches, referees and other related people are involved in gambling on matches and other things," Yang was quoted as saying.
Over the weekend influential Dalian Side president Xu Ming provoked open revolt against the CFA after he issued documents calling for broad changes to the troubled league.
Xu, who also had the backing of three other teams -- Beijing Hyundai, Shanghai International and Chongqing Lifan, said: "The CFA should come clean on its balance sheet, making it public in the first place."
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB