A large campaign

DISSENTING VOICES: Chinese soccer fans hold signs that say "Dismiss the Chinese Football Association" after the Chinese national soccer team was knocked out of World Cup qualifiers on November 17, 2004 (CFP)

The nationwide operation started in March 2009 when 12 ministry-level bodies, including police and the justice and taxation departments, set up a high-profile committee to clean up corruption in the sport.

In October 2009 during an inspection tour to east China's Shandong Province, Chinese President Hu Jintao voiced his concern when he said Chinese soccer needed to rediscover the spirit of Rong Zhixing, the skillful midfielder from the 1970s. Hu's comment came after a flood of similar observations from other officials.

Vice President Xi Jinping and State Councilor Liu Yandong also made remarks about the need to revitalize the sport.

"We have to diagnose the crux of the obstruction to the development of Chinese football," Liu said.

In November 2009, police in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, reportedly detained Fan Guangming, an official in charge of advertising at the CFA.

He was believed to be in custody for his involvement in manipulating matches between Chinese and foreign clubs in Singapore. Fan had organized domestic soccer teams, including one from northeast China's Liaoning Province, to play in Singapore. The teams were all later involved in soccer-betting scandals in the island state.

On November 25, 2009, the MPS announced that 16 former players and officials had been detained. They are suspected of "manipulating domestic soccer matches through commercial bribery." Some of those in custody are also suspected of gambling through foreign websites, the ministry said. It was the first time the ministry had spoken about the massive investigation into soccer-related crimes.

The ministry announced that Wang Xin, a former player from Liaoning who later became general manager of the Singapore-registered Liaoning Guangyuan Club, was an important source for police to discover clandestine betting and match fixing in the sport.

"During the investigation into Wang's match-rigging scheme in Singapore, it was found that he also manipulated domestic matches through commercial bribery," said Wang Ran, a police investigator, during an interview with China Central Television.

Wang Xin was wanted by Interpol in Singapore at the start of 2009, after fleeing the country when his team's match fixing was exposed. He was arrested in Liaoning in April 2009, police said.

Police said Wang Xin and former Shanxi club General Manager Wang Po are suspected of manipulating several matches since 2006 in the First Division League, China's second-tier league.

Chinese Super League team Guangzhou Pharmaceutical FC, which was promoted from the First Division in 2007, has also been dragged into the scandal. Police claim that Yang Xu, former Deputy Manager of the Guangzhou club, once paid 200,000 yuan ($29,282) to Wang Xin and Wang Po for a 5-1 win in 2006.

But alleged improprieties exposed so far are believed to be only the tip of the iceberg.

On December 11, 2009, the MPS announced that Xu Hongtao, President of the Chengdu Blades, the Chinese Super League club owned by England's Sheffield United, and club Deputy Manager You Kewei had been arrested for allegedly bribing Qingdao-based Hailifeng Club to win a crucial match in September 2007 so that they could advance to China's Premiership.

Liu Hongwei, leader of Hailifeng, which deliberately lost the game to the Blades, has been detained. He has admitted to taking 300,000 yuan ($43,950) and accepting a free winter training offer for his team that was worth about 200,000 yuan ($29,282) to throw the game, according to China Central Television.

On January 15, 2010, police detained three CFA officials.

Police in January also took in for questioning Jia Xiuquan, the former head coach of the national Olympic team and Chinese Super League team Shanghai Shenhua.

"The political atmosphere toward soccer has changed and that will definitely benefit the game in the long run," said Yan Qiang, Vice President of Titan Sports. "I am quite certain that the investigations are related to that. They have to do something to clean house in this atmosphere."