In recent years, the Chinese Football Association has made unprecedented achievements in the fight against corruption. Not only has the campaign been historic in terms of time span, but it has also reached new heights in terms of depth of investigation. In the era of Jinyuan football, the Chinese football industry experienced a serious stage of bubble due to the blind pursuit of profits, which directly led to the worsening of corruption in the football world. In response, the Football Association has taken tough anti-corruption measures in an attempt to clean up internal stains and rebuild trust in Chinese football.
A recent major operation has exposed several important figures in football, including Chen Xuyuan and Du Zhaocai, who are suspected of huge amounts of corruption. These uncovered cases show that the Football Association's anti-corruption campaign is not just a superficial rectification, but has penetrated into all levels of the football world. The Football Association has even set up a window for the return of stolen goods, allowing those suspected of problems to return their ill-gotten gains. On the one hand, this measure is to give those involved in the small amount of money a chance to clear themselves, and on the other hand, it also exposes some hidden big fish in the process of returning stolen goods, so that the amount of money returned has greatly increased.
Chen Xuyuan and Du Zhao
In this context, Chen Xuyuan and Du Zhaocai have become important targets of investigation and have entered the stage of public prosecution. It is reported that their case involves tens of millions of dollars, and the amount of money involved in the middle and high-level officials related to them is also considerable.
In the cases of Chen Xuyuan and Du Zhaocai, there are many striking details. For example, in the summer of 2017, Du Zhaocai "parachuted" into the upper echelons of the Football Association and quickly strengthened the controversial "transfer adjustment fee" system. Instead of providing a relaxation for the club, he put in place stricter measures to close all loopholes in the adjustment fee system. This led to clubs such as Guangzhou Evergrande, Beijing Guoan, and Tianjin Tianhai paying a total of more than 1.5 billion yuan in adjustment fees for the Football Association before 2020. This huge amount of money has now become a pile of "bad debts", and its whereabouts and use methods have become a huge unsolved case, which is obviously a satire on the "bad government" led by Du Zhaocai back then.
In addition, during Du Zhaocai's control of the Football Association, he also triggered a chaotic situation of "one new policy a year" in the Chinese Super League for three years, including proposing a plan for the national team to participate in the professional league and the national training team, and even forcibly transferring players for military training and forming the U25 national team during the league.
In the summer of 2019, Chen Xuyuan entered the Football Association, ending Du Zhaocai's monopoly in the Football Association, forming a situation in which Chen is inside and Du is outside. Although the two seem to cooperate on the surface, they are actually fighting openly and secretly behind the scenes. In order to consolidate his authority in the Football Association, Du Zhaocai even did not hesitate to expand the power of the Football Association and install cronies to oppose Chen Xuyuan. This infighting has made the Football Association almost a place of personal wrestling, and the development and reform of football itself has clearly been neglected.
Operation to return stolen goods
In the midst of the anti-corruption storm in Chinese football, the arrest of two important figures has triggered a series of actions to return stolen goods. Initially, many mid- and high-level officials may have been left to chance, and the first phase of the return of stolen goods was almost fruitless. But as the organization went deeper into the conversation, the amount of stolen goods returned rose sharply. From a few hundred yuan or a few thousand yuan, it has jumped to hundreds of thousands or millions. Some people receive a congratulatory gift of up to 5 million after buying a house in a different place; Some received 300,000 after being promoted. What's even more shocking is that at the scene of the conversation, some people fainted due to a mental breakdown and even had a heart attack. This storm not only exposed the hidden "big fish", but also revealed the deep problems in the football world.
Whether the person who voluntarily returned the stolen goods was severely punished
These people include not only the arrested "big fish", but also many people with less serious circumstances, whose voluntary surrender has avoided more severe punishment to a certain extent.
The return of stolen goods reveals deep problems within the FA system. However, the return of stolen goods has also exposed loopholes in the system, and although those who voluntarily returned the stolen goods have been given lenient treatment, it has also left the possibility of a recurrence of the problem in the future.
Against this backdrop, how can the top management of the Football Association strengthen its management to deal with this corruption?
First, the Football Association should strengthen its oversight of clubs, teams and officials to ensure transparency and fairness. This involves establishing and refining systems and processes to more effectively monitor key aspects such as the use of funds and the results of competitions. This can ensure that Chinese football can get out of the shadow of corruption and move forward towards a healthy and sustainable development path.
Secondly, the environment and future development of Chinese football are closely related to the improvement of the Football Association. The Football Association should strive to create a clean environment and strengthen institutional and regulatory measures to ensure fairness and transparency in football. This includes strict monitoring of the flow of funds to ensure that funds are used for the legitimate development of teams and players, and not for illicit gain.
In addition, the Football Association also needs to focus on improving the overall level of Chinese football. This includes strengthening youth training and grassroots construction to cultivate more outstanding football talents. In this way, Chinese football can not only improve the level of domestic competition, but also show better performance on the international stage.
Finally, the Football Association should also work to increase public trust and support for football, which needs to be achieved through continuous communication and transparency. Only with the support of the public can Chinese football truly achieve long-term development.
In short, through these measures, Chinese football can look forward to a brighter and healthier future.