The referee who refused to be bought

Editor's Note: Soccer is the world's No 1 sport, and China has its own aims for the game. President Xi Jinping has spoken about his soccer dream: China reaching the World Cup, China hosting the Cup and, ultimately, China winning the coveted trophy. However, the nation still lags far behind in the soccer world. The 2014 Brazil World Cup is just around the corner and we have selected 11 key figures from around the country to tell us about their soccer dreams. The interviews will be on RTHK Putonghua Channel at 4 pm on Sundays through June 8.

China's professional soccer is haunted by a past rife with corruption, and the greatest specter of all is hei shao - loosely translated as "black whistlers" - which fans frequently chant during games.

In 2009, when an anti-corruption campaign consumed the country's No 1 sport, many "golden whistle" winning referees were exposed as cheats while several top soccer officials, who had vowed to fight corruption at all levels, were proved to be running the charade.

Almost all Chinese referees were regarded as corrupt, but one managed to stay out of the gutter.

Chan Siu-kee, Hong Kong's perennial No 1 official and one of the few international referees of the special administrative region, recalled his experience in the Chinese leagues during that harrowing time.

In 1998 Chan was invited by the Chinese Football Association to officiate major league games and the Chinese FA Cup.

"At that time, soccer was red hot in China," he said. "The sport was one of the most important things during the week. People from each city cared much about their team. It was much better than Hong Kong in terms of the attractiveness, and I was much more cautious and focused when officiating in those games."

He also became aware of a dark side to the Chinese game.

"When I came to a host city for a league game, endless people knocked at my door in the hotel, telling me which team should win, what they expect from me and how much they could pay me," Chan said.

"To be honest, I was frightened at first. I didn't expect the mainland's soccer culture to be like this."

In Hong Kong it was totally different, he said.

"Being Asia's first pro league, although relatively low in competitiveness, Hong Kong's league was much more standard in terms of rules.

"In Hong Kong, as we went to the stadiums from our own homes, it was less possible for anyone to reach the referees."

And being a civil servant (an inspector of the Drainage Services Department of the HKSAR), Chan also had to avoid any kind of corruption or feel the wrath of the city's graft watchdog, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Chan has been out of the Chinese league for more than a decade now and does not want to say anything further about the scandals he heard about and saw in China..

However, he stated he has some mainland friends who were involved and he does not want to get them in trouble.

"The environment was vile," Chan said. "Those illegal practices were already a part of Chinese soccer. Referees who refused the offers would be marginalized and expelled from the inner circle."

Rather than looking back, Chan prefers to talk about the game's future in China.

The Chinese league is recovering, which is evident by the increased attendance. But the technical level of the refs is probably at an all-time low, Chan said.

"Because of the inferiority of the CFA, Chinese refs are now having less opportunities to officiate international games. That leaves them without valuable experience when officiating key games." he said.

"Japan's referees enjoy better chances, thus they have improved in line with the nation's soccer.

"It's a pity that for such a big soccer-loving country like China, in history we only have one internationally-renowned ref - Lu Jun," Chan said.

But Lu is now in prison for graft.

Lu and Chan were rated among Asia's best referees. And Lu was Chan's role model during those years.

"He was twice voted the AFC's best referee. I often took the chance to learn from him when I was appointed the fourth official in his games," Chan said.

"His performances were world class and he always remained at the same level."

His most impressive experience with Lu was a famous group game in 1998's Tiger Cup (the current ASEAN Football Championship). Indonesia and Thailand were both aiming to lose as the winner would have to fly to Hanoi to face Vietnam.

Just minutes before the final whistle, an Indonesian defender took the ball and shot at his own goal.

The soccer world was shocked by the scandal, which is ranked among the greatest sporting frauds of all-time. Lu was the chief ref and Chan the fourth official.

Lu had nothing to do with that travesty and no one imagined he would one day be exposed as the biggest "black whistler" in China.

"It's a pity that a good ref like Lu is now behind bars," Chan said, shaking his head.

Being a referee, Chan's dream was to step onto a World Cup pitch. He was chosen to be the ref for the official trial games of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, but wasn't selected for the finals.

"That was a great honor for me," Chan said. "I hope there will be new generation of Hong Kong refs that will officiate at the World Cup finals."

Chan is now the coach of Hong Kong's Special Olympics soccer team. Teaching soccer with love is his motto.

"I have worked with them for nearly 10 years," Chan said of the team that won the world championship in 2007 and 2011.

"They have struggles in everyday life, but they are dream chasers on the pitch."

The 2015 Los Angeles Special Olympics is around the corner and the team's goal is to win another world title.

"I hope they can get confidence in life through playing soccer," said Chan.

luisliu@chinadailyhk.com

(China Daily 05/17/2014 page15)