"Black whistles" may face judicial prosecution
( 2002-03-15 09:01 ) (1 )

Referees accused of taking bribes during the 2001 Chinese Football League season but are still blowing whistles in the new league this year could find themselves in court.

A long-awaited notice was on Thursday issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) saying referees guilty of bribe-taking will be prosecuted under the charge of accepting bribes as corporation staff, according to No. 163 Article of the Criminal Code.

The top procuratorate asked its branches at various levels to accept and deal with claims and reports of cases of match rigging.

The intervention of the judicial body on the scandal shows it has finally begun to take its first step.

An argument that referees are neither civil servants nor employees of private enterprises has been raging which led many to believe that they could not be charged with the offence in a court of law but could only be punished by their governing body - the Chinese Football Association (CFA).

Dozens of referees have been suspected of misconduct during last year's league season with several returning money they accepted for bribes to the CFA in January, according to Yan Shiduo, deputy-chairman of CFA.

The CFA responded by saying that referees who admitted such immoral activities would be forgiven, their names would not be made public and they could continue their work as referees. And referees found guilty of match-fixing who refuse to confess will be severely punished or sent to court.

However, up to now, none has yet appeared before a judge.

This generated a wave of public anger.

Nearly 50 deputies to the Ninth National People's Congress attending the annual NPC full session, which closes Friday, jointly proposed that the judicial body should intervene in the case as soon as possible.

Dong Hua, spokesman of the CFA, refused to give any comments on whether the CFA will send guilty referees to court.

He said he had not seen the notice, which has actually been on the official website of the SPP for two days.

Bosses of former Geely Football Club in Guangdong Province and Lucheng Football Club in Zhejiang Province, and Chen Peide, director of Sports Bureau of Zhejiang, firstly exposed the scandal in October.

Geely boss Li Shufu and Lucheng President Song Weiping admitted to the public last year that they had bribed referees to win matches, and would like to receive judical punishment for bribing.

Song and Li said that about 60,000 yuan (US$7,255) was needed to ensure a home victory. Li estimated that about 70 per cent to 80 per cent of league referees have taken such bribes at least once.