The Chinese Football Association (CFA) on Wednesday slapped the
toughest punishment since its professional league was launched in
1994, on five second division sides for "playing games passively".
Changchun Yatai, which would have been promoted next season after
finishing second in the recently-concluded second division league,
was ruled ineligible for next year's first division, while Sichuan
Mianyang will be relegated to the third division in 2002, according
to a CFA statement released on Wednesday.
Chengdu Wuniu, who had collected as many points as second-placed
Yatai but were behind on goal difference, trounced Mianyang in a
rugby-style score of 11-2 in the penultimate round of the second
division league on September 29.
In
the last round of, Wuniu scored four goals in less than 20 minutes,
coming from two goals down to beat Jiangsu Shuntian 4-2, while
Zhejiang Lucheng were thrashed 6-0 by Yatai.
The CFA report said the five teams "lacked the spirit of fair play"
in these matches and the results "tarnished the image of Chinese
soccer".
CFA also decided to bar all the domestic players of these punished
clubs, who played in the three suspicious matches, from
registration for the 2002 season and stripped their rights to
transfer in the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
Meanwhile, the coaches of the five teams have been "revoked of
coaching licenses" for one year and the five clubs are barred from
introducing domestic players in 2002 and 2003, said the CFA.
(People’s Daily
October 18, 2001)