A TV grab of a China Central Television (CCTV) report on the soccer referees' corruption case on February 16, 2012. [Photo: Sina.com.cn]

A court in northern China's Liaoning province on Thursday sentenced four former referees to jail terms for taking bribes.

Suspects involved in the long-awaited Chinese soccer corruption case will hear their sentences in two intermediate courts in Liaoning Province this week. The first group of defendants include four referees who were convicted of taking bribes, gambling on or fixing matches.

Lu Jun, China's "Gold Whistle" who had officiated in World Cup and Olympic matches, was sentenced to 5.5 years in jail on charges of taking bribes. When standing on trial, Lu admitted to taking a total of 810,000 yuan (roughly 128,000 US dollars) in bribes for fixing seven league games that involved four soccer clubs.

The other three referees who were convicted are Huang Junjie, Wan Daxue and Zhou Weixin. They were sentenced to seven years, six years, and 3.5 years, respectively. The trial of high-profile soccer officials, including Nan Yong and Xie Yalong, will take place in March.

The crackdown against gambling and corruption in Chinese soccer began on August 25, 2009. Trials against defendants including Nan's deputy Yang Yimin and related Chinese referees and soccer club managers began last December.