We have seen dozens of South Korean soccer players involved in match-fixing or gambling scandals. We have also heard about countless illegal deals in soccer games in other places of the world, such as Italy.

But there are not many countries like China where all layers of the popular game, including football association officials, referees, players, coaches and clubs, are involved in the dirty business.

After two years of investigation, trials officially started yesterday at a court in Tieling, Liaoning. Among those standing or awaiting trial are Nan Yong and Xie Yalong, former heads of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Zhang Jianqiang, ex-director of the CFA's referee committee, and Lu Jun, a famous referee who officiated at the 2002 World Cup.

For years, millions of Chinese soccer fans have been pinning their hopes on their national team to improve its chances of progressing in international competitions. But too many times, including the qualification series for the 2014 World Cup, the Chinese team has disappointed while teams such as Japan and South Korea have shone in recent World Cups.

The increasing number of gold medals won at the Olympic Games has convinced Chinese people that their country has grown into a global sports power. Although China still has some hard rivals in the world in popular sports such as basketball, Chinese teams can beat other Asian teams with relative ease - but not in soccer.

An increasing number of fans are staying away from watching Chinese national team or the domestic Super League. It is not that the fans are not supportive when their teams lose. It is mainly because the fans are disappointed with a Chinese soccer that is plagued with match-fixing and an absence of professionalism.

Soccer clubs are not short of cash. Shanghai Shenhua is reportedly paying more than 10 million euros a year to hire Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka. The Chinese Super League now has more than a dozen foreign coaches, who are much more expensive than local ones. But we have to remain on the alarmist side.

If the matches are still contaminated by business or political interests behind the scenes, no matter how well a player plays, or how fiercely  a match is contested, the game will lose its essence and the beauty of unpredictability will become a scam. In the end, international players and coaches pocket their money, leaving Chinese players struggling far behind their counterparts around the world.

Let us hope the crackdown on this national soccer scandal is only the beginning of a major transformation of Chinese soccer.