中国サッカー、元代表選手ら４３人を永久追放　賭博や八百長で

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国サッカー協会（ＣＦＡ）が１０日、賭博や八百長に関与したとして、４３人に永久資格停止処分を科した。国営新華社通信が報じた。（写真はサッカー元韓国代表の孫準浩）
　処分を受けた人物の中には、元中国代表の３選手や元韓国代表ＭＦの孫準浩（ソン・ジュンホ）らも含まれるという。中国公安部によると、国内試合における違法賭博や八百長に関する約２年間の捜査で１２８人の名前が上がった。今回処分された４３人はその中に含まれる。
　孫は中国スーパーリーグ（１部）の山東泰山に所属していた際に八百長や収賄に関わったとされた。孫は２０２３年５月に中国で拘束された後、今年３月に韓国に戻っている。
　同じく山東泰山でプレーした元中国代表の金敬道も処分の対象となった。
　中国は近年、スポーツ界、とりわけサッカー界における汚職の取り締まりを強化しており、これまでに協会上層部の約１０人が摘発されている。
　３月には陳戌源前会長が収賄の罪で無期懲役を言い渡されたほか、８月には李毓毅元副会長も収賄で懲役１１年の判決を受けた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/09/11-16:52）

Chinese football banned 43 people for life on Tuesday over alleged gambling and match-fixing, including three former China internationals and South Korean World Cup player Son Jun-ho, state media said.
Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has deepened a crackdown on corruption in Chinese sports in recent years, especially football, and jailed numerous top officials.
Xi is a self-confessed football fanatic who has said he dreams of China hosting and winning the World Cup.
But that ambition appears further away than ever after repeated corruption scandals and years of disappointing results on the pitch.
The banned 43 were mostly players who were among a total of 128 people implicated in a two-year probe into illegal gambling and match-fixing in the domestic game, China's public security ministry said, according to state media.
The news came hours before a home 2026 World Cup qualifier between China and Saudi Arabia and less than a week after the national team suffered a humiliating 7-0 defeat to rivals Japan.
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) accused Son, who played for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League, of participating in match-fixing and taking bribes.
The international midfielder, who appeared in three of South Korea's four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, returned to South Korea in March after being held in China since May 2023.
Beijing said at the time that he was detained on suspicion of accepting bribes by non-state employees, without providing details.
A representative for the 32-year-old Son, who now plays in South Korea's top domestic league, told Yonhap News Agency they were bewildered by the allegations and that Son would hold a news conference to address the claims.
Also banned from Chinese football for life is Jin Jingdao, another former Shandong Taishan player, and fellow Chinese internationals Guo Tianyu and Gu Chao.
- Ex-chief jailed -
China's football governing body has itself been under scrutiny. About 10 high-ranking CFA officials have been brought down in corruption probes so far.
The government handed a lifetime prison sentence to Chen Xuyuan, the former chairman of the CFA, in March for receiving what it called particularly huge bribes and said his actions seriously damaged fair competition and order.
Chen took advantage of his positions at the CFA and other bodies to illegally accept sums of money from other people totalling 81.03 million yuan ($11 million), the Communist Party-run People's Daily newspaper said.
He caused serious consequences for the national football industry, it said.
The former head coach of China's national team and ex-Everton midfielder Li Tie pleaded guilty the same month to accepting more than $10.7 million in bribes and helping to fix matches.
And in May, state broadcaster CCTV reported that Gou Zhongwen, former director of the General Administration of Sport of China, was under investigation for corruption.
A Chinese court sentenced Li Yuyi, a former vice-president of the Chinese Football Association, to 11 years in jail in August, also for taking bribes.