Shanghai Shenhua stripped of 2003 Chinese Super League title in match-fixing inquiry

Shanghai Shenhua have been stripped of their 2003 Chinese Super League (CSL) title and fined the equivalent of $150,000 as part of a new round of sanctions aimed at rooting out match-fixing in China.

The Chinese Football Association also banned 33 officials and players for life at the conclusion of a three-year investigation into corruption in the CSL, the Xinhua news agency and other state media reported.

Among those banned were the former CFA senior executives Nan Yong and Xie Yalong, who were sentenced last year to 10 years and six month in prison apiece.

Shenhua were docked six points for the coming season as part of the punishment for fixing the result of a game against Shanxi Guoli on the way to the 2003 title. Another 11 clubs were fined up to $150,000 and docked between three and six points for bribery and match-fixing.

The club has so far failed to comment on its punishment. However, Shenhua's main investor, the computer games mogul Zhao Jun, wrote on his Twitter-like Weibo microblog that it suffered from "internal problems".

Zhao added "the entire city is upset at the punishment. We all belong to Shenhua, no matter whether in past or present, no matter how difficult or how much we have been wronged, we will stand and bear it."

Also handed lifelong bans were the former deputy association head Yang Yimin, the 2002 World Cup referee Lu Jun and four former Chinese internationals, Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming, all of whom were earlier sentenced to up to six years jail for bribe-taking.

Violations cited by the CFA included match-fixing, bribe taking and receiving, and gambling. Some offences dated back a decade or more, Xinhua said.

Chinese authorities have made some progress in reining in rampant corruption in Chinese football which many people blame in part for the national team's poor international results. Sentences handed down in 2012 were seen as a warning that the legal system was serious about punishing violators, and fans have largely returned to stadiums to cheer on their favourites in the 16-team CSL.

However, a recent push to attract big-name international talent has raised questions both about the ability of teams to pay the huge salaries and the suffocating effect that these are having on the development of local talent.

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