The country's former soccer chief, Xie Yalong, denied his testimony Tuesday on corruption charges, saying his confession during interrogation had been the result of torture, media reports said, as the crackdown on corruption in football reaches its climax.

Xie stood trial Tuesday at the Dandong Intermediate People's Court, where he rejected most of the 12 charges accusing him of accepting bribes worth 1.73 million yuan ($273,200) from a dozen companies, clubs and individuals on 12 occasions between 1998 and 2008.

During the trial, Xie's lawyer, Jin Xiaoguang, demanded an assessment of Xie's injuries allegedly caused by the torture and applied for the exclusion of any evidence extorted through illegal means, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xie had identified to the court those responsible for "forcing him to confess," and he made the confessions for "survival," Jin told reporters outside the court.

Xie, 56, was the executive deputy chairman of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) between 2005 and 2009.

A staff member from the Dandong People's Procuratorate, who declined to give his name, dismissed Xie's claims as "complete nonsense."

When asked whether the procuratorate would investigate and make the interrogators testify, he told the Global Times that the verdict would reveal everything.

Wu Danhong, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times that if Xie can provide evidence about the torture, the trial would be suspended and an investigation could be launched to verify the legitimacy of the confessions.

The revision of the Criminal Procedure Law adopted last month states that confessions extorted through illegal means, such as torture, should be excluded during trials.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate has required departments at all levels to record the whole interrogation process.

When a defendant accuses investigators of using illegal means, the latter need to provide the court with the footage or other records of the interrogation.

Legal experts told Xinhua that Xie's accusations are of great significance that suggests growing awareness among the public about the exclusion of evidence collected through illegal means.

But Wu noted that if other proof against Xie is shown to be sufficient, the former soccer chief would not escape punishment even without his confession.

Xie and his successor, Nan Yong, who is to stand trial in a different court in Liaoning later today, are the highest ranking officials caught in China's ever-widening crackdown on soccer corruption, which has brought down dozens of high-ranking soccer officials, referees and players.

Jiang Jin, Qi Hong, Shen Si and Li Ming, former players for the national team, will be tried today in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.

The four footballers, who played for Shanghai International in 2003, were said to have taken 2 million yuan in bribes each from Tianjin Teda to throw the final game of the 2002-03 domestic season.

The Dandong court Tuesday also opened the trial of Wei Shaohui, former manager of the Chinese national soccer team, who allegedly took more than 1.2 million yuan in bribes.

China's best-known referee Lu Jun, who officiated fixtures at the 2002 World Cup and 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for taking a total of 810,000 yuan in bribes and for fixing seven matches from 1999 to 2003.

Yang Yimin, former CFA vice chief, was also sentenced to 10 and a half years for taking more than 1.2 million yuan in bribes.

Wang Dazhao, a sports commentator, told the Global Times that the trials should not be seen as the conclusion of the crackdown against graft in soccer. He suggested the building of a regular supervision and management mechanism over the lucrative sport.

"As long as the game exists, there will be people who attempt to gain profit from it through foul means. Thus the crackdown on soccer graft should continue," Wang said.

He added that to build a clean environment for the sport, authorities need to coordinate anti-corruption efforts in other sectors that are closely connected to soccer, such as judiciary and business.

The scandal-marred sport and poor performance of the national team have been a disappointment for domestic fans, threatening the future of the world's most popular game in the most populous country.

Huang Jingjing and Xinhua contributed to this story

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