Nine Chinese Super League Soccer Teams Start Season With Minus Points Amid Match-Fixing Scandal

In an unprecedented move, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced that 9 of the 16 Chinese Super League teams will start the new season with minus points. The clubs, including last season’s champions, Shanghai Port, have been sanctioned amid widespread allegations of bribery and match-fixing for gambling purposes.

The new season kicks off in March and will start with teams in the following positions:

Six of the top seven teams from last season will face points deductions, with second-placed Shanghai Shenhua receiving the harshest penalty of 10 points, along with Tianjin. Only Chengdu Rongcheng, who finished third, escaped punishment among the top clubs.

In a statement announcing the charges, the CFA said they related to “match-fixing, gambling, and corruption in the football industry.” It added that differing penalties were issued “based on the amount, circumstances, nature, and social impact of the improper transactions involved in the case”, but did not provide specific details.

In addition to the points deductions, clubs have been fined between CN¥ 200,000 ($29,000) and CN¥ 1 million ($140,000). In the division below, Meizhou Hakka, Changchun Yatai, Suzhou Dongwu, and Ningbo FC were penalized with point deductions ranging from three to four points.

73 Individuals Sanctioned, Including Former Premier League Star

Former CFA President Chen Xuyuan is at the center of the scandal and has been banned for life from all soccer activities. Chen is accused of accepting bribes totaling as much as $11 million. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2024.

In addition, Li Tie, a former Premier League player with Everton FC, was given a 20-year prison sentence for his part in the scandal. Li served as manager of the Chinese National Soccer team from 2019 to 2021. He featured 34 times in the Premier League for Everton from 2003 to 2006.

Former Chinese international Wang Dong was also handed a lifetime ban for “manipulating match results for illegal benefits,” just 11 days after he was appointed new head coach of third-tier league club Changchun Xidu. A total of 73 individuals have been given lifetime bans.

There have been a series of match-fixing scandals breaking around the world of soccer in recent weeks. In Israel, 17 individuals were arrested amid allegations that the soccer club FC Kiryat Yam is involved in an illegal match-fixing and gambling operation.

Clubs Quickly Accept Punishment & Apologize

While in Israel, FC Kiryat Yam denied the accusations, in China, the clubs have offered no signs of protest against punishments. Beijing Guoan, last season’s cup winners, went viral on Chinese social media with a post that, roughly translated, stated, “What goes around comes around! There are gods watching from above!” The post has since been deleted.

Other clubs posted statements noting they accepted the punishments and vowed to improve their behavior. Both sanctioned Shanghai clubs reflected on “the lack of management, supervision, and respect for regulation“.

Shanghai Port (Shanghai SIPG) acknowledged that the violations occurred in an earlier era (around 2014–2017) when the club was in its formative stages.

It is unclear exactly when the alleged wrongdoings occurred. In other match-fixing scandals, soccer governing bodies have taken retrospective action. For example, in Italy, Juventus was stripped of two Serie A titles in the notorious Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

Author Danny Funt recently released a book titled “Everybody Loses,” noting the spread of match-fixing is one of many negative consequences of legalizing sports betting. Gambling on soccer is illegal in China; however, anyone caught participating faces detention and fines.

A similar scandal is ongoing in Turkey, where gambling is also prohibited. It suggests that whether gambling is legal or illegal, match-fixing in sport is rife.