THE former president of the Chinese Football Association has been sentenced to life in prison amid a wide-ranging crackdown on sports corruption.

Chinese courts today handed down sentences of between eight years and life in prison to officials in the sports programmes, accusing them of taking bribes and committing other financial crimes.

Chen Xuyuan, the former CFA president, received a life sentence for helping fix matches and using his various positions to commit financial crimes, state media reported.

Xinhua reported that all of Chen’s personal property would be confiscated and his illegal gains would be recovered and turned over to the state treasury.

Other high-ranking officials sentenced to prison for taking bribes included the former head of the National Athletics Association, Hong Chen, who was sentenced to 13 years, former high-ranking football official Chen Yongliang, who received 14 years, and Dong Zheng, former CEO of Chinese FA Super League Company, for eight years.

China’s domestic football leagues have long struggled with corruption and financial instability, while the national men’s and women’s teams languish in the international ranks, despite earlier successes.

Corruption in the sport is mainly linked to payoffs to players and referees to produce an outcome that benefits gambling syndicates.