Ni Huizhong Photo:VCG

The former head of China's delegation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games Ni Huizhong was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public post for seriously violating Party discipline and laws, according to disciplinary authorities on Friday.

Ni was appointed as the Party chief and director of the National Winter Sports Administrative Center of the General Administration of Sport in 2017, according to media reports.

Amid a crackdown on graft in the sports sector, he was being probed by the disciplinary inspection and supervision team from the General Administration of Sport of China, which was sent by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision. It noted that Ni's case is being handled by Henan provincial supervisory authorities.

According to Friday's announcement, Ni lost his ideals and beliefs, betrayed his original intentions and missions, was disloyal and dishonest to the Party, formed cliques and factions, created a spectacle for himself to gain political capital.

"Ni is two-faced, hypocritical, a political fraudster who privately possessed and read books with serious political issues, engaged in superstitious activities and also resisted organizational inspections," the announcement reads.

Ni violated the spirit of the central Party leadership's eight-point decision, entering private clubs, accepting banquets, gifts, money, and travel arrangements, and other activities that may affect the impartial execution of official duties, it continues.

In addition, Ni also used the influence of his position or authority to seek personal benefits, and also long-term unpaid use of others' housing.

Ni had arrogant behavior, bureaucratic problems, privately retained materials related to Party organizations' official selection and appointment. He had enjoyed extravagant lifestyle, seeking pleasure, also engaged in power and money transactions, using his position to benefit others in project contracting, event hosting, employee recruitment, and illegally accepting large sums of money, according to the announcement.

Ni's behaviors seriously violated the Party's political discipline, organizational discipline, integrity discipline, work discipline, and also life discipline, constituting a serious violation of duty and suspected of bribery crimes, the announcement wrote.

In addition to being expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office, Ni was also confiscated his ill-gotten gains from disciplinary and illegal activities.

The Henan provincial supervisory authorities will transfer his suspected criminal issues to the procuratorial organs for review and prosecution in accordance with the law, and the assets involved will also be transferred with the case.

Ni, 54, is among a number of high-profile sports figures facing scrutiny over graft in recent two years. In 2023, China's top anti-graft watchdog said that a disciplinary inspection and supervision team was dispatched to the General Administration of Sport. The team said it will focus on outstanding problems of those senior officials reported by the public and will dig deeper to eradicate corruption in the field of sports and carry out deep-seated institutional reforms to provide a hefty guarantee for the construction of a strong sports nation.

Global Times