China's professional soccer has been beset by accusations of match fixing by players, corrupt referees and on-pitch violence. FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation have both demanded explanations from the China Football Association (CFA), and with the game's credibility at an all-time low the Chinese Premier League (CPL) now risks falling apart.

The most recent round of disputes started on October 2, when Beijing Hyundai walked off the pitch during their league game with Shenyang Jinde after a controversial penalty call by the referee. The CFA fined them 300,000 yuan (about US$36,000) and three league points.

 

In response, Beijing Hyundai called a midnight press conference, threatening to pull out of CPL matches altogether. The conference was attended by Xu Ming, chairman of Dalian Shide -- six-time champion of the First Division (the CPL's predecessor) -- to show his support for the Beijing club.

 

On October 22 bosses of seven CPL clubs met at Xianghe Football Training Base in Beijing, asking the CFA to defer this season's remaining league matches, make public its accounting records and reform its administrative structure.

 

 

Two days later, a game between Dalian Shide and Shenyang Jinde was cut short by the referee after a half-an-hour suspension caused by a controversial goal in the 85th minute. A similar scene occurred during the match between Liaoning Zhongyu and Shanghai International on the same day.

 

There has also been violence: during a game between Beijing Hyundai and Tianjin Kangshifu a sideline referee was hit on the head by a bottle thrown by a spectator and the game held up for nine minutes. In a previous match between Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai International a gang fight took place on the pitch.

 

The CFA's rules and regulations, released last minute and without consultation for the start of the season, are full of loopholes and have become an object of ridicule.

 

Worse, the CFA has often been seen to flout its own rules: in 2003 Changchun Yatai questioned Liaoning's entry into the league, but the CFA let them in despite later admitting that they hadn't met CPL requirements.

 

For years the CFA turned a deaf ear to public criticism by using the "Yo-Yo Test" to select professional players, requiring them to run up and down a 20-meter stretch with increasing speed. It not only made coaches and athletes play down the need to develop soccer skills but also excluded a number of talented players such as Peng Weiguo, Gao Feng and Deng Lejun.

 

In 2002 a corruption scandal was wound up perfunctorily with the arrest of "black whistle" Gong Jianping, later sentenced to ten years in prison. Gong was widely considered a scapegoat and died of leukemia on July 11, days before the opening ceremony of the 2004 Asian Cup in Beijing.

 

In 2003 the CFA announced a penalty list for others involved in the scandal, fining six go-betweens and some clubs for offering bribes. However, the clubs remained in the league. As for much of the money that the CFA received in fines, nobody knows the whereabouts.

 

Comparisons between China's weakening international position and Japan's rise are made by many, with the CFA being slated for its selection of inappropriate and inexperienced coaches for both the men's and women's national squads.

 

Local clubs also have to take some blame for the current chaotic state in the league matches. Over-reliance on local government tax-breaks has made them extremely weak in a fierce market competition, especially since most of those incentives have now been withdrawn.

 

As pointed out by Xu Ming, reform is the only way out for Chinese professional soccer. All club bosses attending the joint meeting at Xianghe agreed that the CFA's power must be decentralized and a more effective management system established. The CFA should instead focus on the national teams and on rebuilding soccer's profile in China.

 

The club bosses' aim of reform, or "revolution" as it has been described in the media, is to detach business and government in the realm of soccer. Nevertheless, their calls did not receive a positive response from the CFA at a joint meeting between the association and club investors in Beijing on October 26.

 

In an effort to pull the derailing CPL matches back on track, the CFA released its own program of reforms promising to open financial statements to public scrutiny and suspend relegation this season. But the next day it scored another own-goal by announcing controversial and unpopular sanctions against Dalian Shide for events during their match with Shenyang Jinde.

 

CFA considered by most to be perfunctory and bureaucratic is becoming more of an obstacle than help in carrying out much-needed reform.

 

(China.org.cn by Shao Da, October 31, 2004)