Former soccer heads sentenced 10-1/2 years for bribery

Two former Chinese soccer chiefs were sentenced on Wednesday to more than a decade in jail for bribery.

Nan Yong, the ex-director of the Chinese Football Administrative Center, was given a 10-and-a-half-year term by a court in the northeast city of Tieling for taking bribes worth more than 1.48 million yuan (about 235,000 U.S. dollars) between 1999 and 2009.

Nan, who was credited with leading China into their only World Cup finals in 2002, was also fined 200,000 yuan (about 31,340 U.S. dollars) with his illegal gains confiscated.

At a different court in Dandong city, Nan's predecessor Xie Yalong was sentenced to 10 and 1/2 years in prison for accepting bribes totaling 1.36 million yuan (about 214,000 U.S. dollars).

Xie, who claimed during April's court session that he had been tortured into confession, which was later denied by Liaoning police, was also fined 200,000 yuan (31,340 U.S. dollars).

Nan and Xie told the courts they need to consult with their respective attorneys to decide whether to appeal the verdicts.

They were among the 11 people who are receiving punishments Wednesday for their parts in the match-fixing and gambling scandal exposed two years ago.

Four former Chinese international players - Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming, charged with taking a total of 8 million yuan (about 1.27 million U.S. dollars) to fix a domestic league game, also received jail sentence.

Shen was handed a six-year term while the others were sentenced for five and a half years. They were each fined 79,400 U.S. dollars.

Li Dongsheng, the former top technical chief in the Chinese Football Administrative Center, received a nine-year term for bribery and embezzlement. He was also fined 100,000 yuan (15,700 U.S. dollars) with his illegal gains of 850,000 yuan (133,400 U.S. dollars) confiscated.

Chen Hong, the former general manager of a now defunct Chongqing side, and Gao Jian, the former general secretary of the Chongqing Football Association, received lenient punishment. Both were sentenced to two years in jail with a reprieve period of two years for bribing non-state staff.