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Ada Li

Mike Chan

China football bosses have banned 73 people for life, including former Chinese Football Association (CFA) president Chen Xuyuan and ex-national team coach Li Tie, and hit 13 clubs with a range of punishments in its ongoing battle against match-fixing and corruption.
On Thursday, officials said another three people had been handed five-year bans for “unlawful acts”, although unlike disgraced pair Li and Chen, who are now behind bars, the trio were not prosecuted.
Meanwhile, several clubs, including last season’s Chinese Super League champions Shanghai Port, have been hit with hefty point deductions and fines.
At a press conference in Beijing, the CFA, the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Sport outlined the campaign against match‑fixing, betting and corrupt refereeing in football.
“The Ministry of Public Security will continue to work with sports administrative departments to maintain a high‑pressure stance of strict law enforcement and severe punishment, effectively support and advance these efforts thoroughly and concretely,” a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security said.

Li was convicted in 2025 after he appealed the first conviction in 2024 of taking bribes, offering bribes, unit bribery, accepting bribes as a non‑state employee and bribing non‑state employees, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Chen was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes, with his political rights revoked for life and all his personal property confiscated. He was also convicted in 2024.
“The association will maintain a strict stance without wavering and continue to punish all kinds of violations and misconduct in football with a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude,” a CFA spokesman said.
Of the potentially 16 teams in the CSL this year, nine will start in the red, with Shanghai Shenhua and Tianjin Jimen Tiger the hardest hit. The two sides will start on minus-10 points, with Qingdao Hainiu next on the list with minus-7, andHenan FC and Shandong Taishan on minus-6.
Champions Shanghai Port were among a group of four sides, including Zheijiang FC, Beijing Guian and Wuhan Three Towns, hit with the loss of five points. All four were found guilty of using a third party company to sign players to avoid salary cap and raising players salaries during the 2023-2024 season.
Changchun Yati and Meizhou Haka, who were relegated to China League One at the end of last year, were deducted four and three points, respectively.
Teams were also fined between 1 million yuan (HK$1.12 million) and 200,000 yuan.
While a CFA official said the range of punishments reflected the “nature, seriousness and social impact of the improper transactions in which each club was involved,” some fans were less impressed.
Cameron Wilson, a well-known commentator on football in the country, said it was evidence of politics once again “screwing over Chinese football”.
“Instead of punishing the guilty individual, innocent fans and the entire Chinese game are penalised,” he wrote on X. “The 2026 season has been rendered meaningless before it’s even kicked off.”
There was a typically strong stance taken by the General Administration of Sport, which said the move showed a “firm determination to strictly rectify the professional conduct and ethics in football”.
It also planned to “further tighten the supervisory responsibilities of sports administrative departments at all levels, football associations and the Chinese Football League” in a bid to improve achievements against “match‑fixing, betting and corrupt refereeing offences”.

The announcement followed lifetime bans ‌issued ⁠in September 2024 to 43 players and officials ‌also for match-fixing.
Li was convicted of taking more than 110 million yuan in bribes between 2015 and 2021 when he was coach of China’s national team.
He also offered bribes of about 3 million yuan to get his coaching role with the national team in 2019.
Li was also convicted of match-fixing from 2015-19, involving more than 39 million yuan.
At Wuhan Zall, he took additional bribes of over 26 million yuan from Hebei FC for player transfers and match-fixing.
Chen, who was chairman of the CFA during the time that Li was the national coach, accepted 16 million yuan from football clubs, including Hebei FC, from 2019 to 2021.
Chen took bribes totalling about 81 million yuan between 2010 and 2023, when he was president and chairman at Shanghai International Port Group – owner of Shanghai SIPG, who won the Chinese Super League in 2018 – followed by head of the CFA.


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Chinese Football Association (CFA)

China bans 73 people from all football for life, hits 13 teams with fines, loss of points

Former China head coach Li Tie is among the 73 people who have been banned from all football-related activities for life. Photo: AFP

Li Tie, former head coach of Chinese national team, stands trial in March 2024. Photo: CCTV

Former CFA president Chen Xuyuan during his trial in March 2024. Photo: AFP 

Sport

Football

Former Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan, ex-national team coach Li Tie among those punished


Former Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan, ex-national team coach Li Tie among those punished.


China bans 73 people from all football for life, hits 13 teams with fines, loss of points

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Former Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan, ex-national team coach Li Tie among those punished

Former Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan, ex-national team coach Li Tie among those punished