Zhang Jianqiang, the former director of the Chinese Football Association's (CFA) referee committee stood trial on bribery charges at the Intermediate People's Court of Tieling in Liaoning Province on Monday. Photo: Xinhua
One of China's most infamous soccer corruption cases began Monday morning at the Intermediate People's Court of Tieling in Liaoning Province, where a number of soccer officials, including Zhang Jianqiang, will stand trial this week on charge of bribery.
Zhang, the former director of the Chinese Football Association's (CFA) referee committee, was the first defendant to face trial. He was charged with taking bribes of up to 2.73 million yuan from April 1997 to October 2009, according to a prosecutor with the Tieling court, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
Zhang admitted he took bribes of up to 700,000 yuan ($110, 460) in 2003 with Lu Jun, China's "Golden Whistle," from the Shanghai Shenhua Football Club.
But the trial ended at around 2:40 pm without announcing the verdict as Zhang's defense lawyer and the case's prosecutor disagreed over whether Zhang had committed the crime of bribery with regard to the seven charges that have been levied against Zhang.
Chen Tao, a lawyer at the Beijing Junyong Law Firm, told the Global Times on Monday that Zhang could face up to 10 years in prison according to China's Criminal Law.
More than 10 people, most of whom are former CFA and club officials, will stand trial this week, including Yang Yimin, the ex-deputy director of the Chinese Football Administrative Center, who will face charges of accepting bribes Wednesday morning.
According to the court, the Shanghai Shenhua Football Club, Jiangsu Shuntian Football Club and the Shandong Luneng Taishan Football Club, were all involved with the bribery scandal.
The ongoing cases have sparked great concern with Chinese soccer fans and commentators over whether the trials will help curb further corruption within the sport.
Zhang Lu, a famous CCTV soccer commentator, told the Global Times on Monday that people within the soccer industry expect the court to conclude all of the cases and hand out equal sentences rather quickly.
"The trial is of great significance in helping to purify match-fixing and gambling on soccer through this large-scale round of crackdowns," Zhang said.
Zhang suggested establishing a fixed authoritative organization which would have the power to implement rules so as to effectively control illegal activity within soccer, and rule out legal documents that are especially stipulated to punish match-fixing and gambling on the sport.
In a statement released Monday, the CFA reiterated their determination to fight against any wrong-doing by saying that soccer corruption breached the country's laws and tarnished the image of the sport as well as the healthy development of soccer in China.
"We need to build a solid system to prevent corruption and increase the reforms on soccer in China and improve the administrative system and supervision resources," the CFA said.
A number of soccer officials, referees, and former players have been detained over their involvement in various corruption and match-fixing incidents, including former CFA vice-president Nan Yong and his predecessor Xie Yalong, since the nationwide crackdown began in March 2009.
The trial dates for Nan Yong and Xie Yalong have yet to be scheduled, according to CCTV.
Xinhua contributed to this story.