Chinese football authorities issued lifetime bans to 43 individuals for their alleged involvement in gambling and match-fixing, including three former China internationals and South Korean World Cup player Son Jun-ho, state media reported Tuesday.

The sweeping action is part of President Xi Jinping’s intensified efforts to root out corruption in Chinese sports, particularly football, with several top officials already jailed.

Xi, a self-professed football fanatic, has expressed his dream of China hosting and winning the World Cup. However, that ambition seems more distant than ever, following repeated corruption scandals and years of disappointing on-field results.

According to state media, the 43 banned individuals, mostly players, were among 128 people implicated in a two-year investigation into illegal gambling and match-fixing in domestic football, China’s public security ministry said.

The news came hours before a 2026 World Cup qualifier between China and Saudi Arabia, and less than a week after the national team suffered a humiliating 7-0 defeat to rivals Japan.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) accused Son, who played for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League, of participating in match-fixing and accepting bribes.

The international midfielder, who played in three of South Korea’s four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, returned to South Korea in March after being held in China since May 2023. Beijing authorities said he was detained “on suspicion of accepting bribes by non-state employees” but did not provide further details.

Also on the lifetime ban list is former Chinese international Jin Jingdao, who also played for Shandong Taishan.

Ex-chief jailed

China’s football governing body has also been scrutinized, with about 10 high-ranking CFA officials brought down in corruption investigations.

In March, the government handed a lifetime prison sentence to Chen Xuyuan, the former chairperson of the CFA, for receiving what it called “particularly huge” bribes, saying his actions “seriously damaged fair competition and order.”

Chen used his position at the CFA and other organizations to “illegally accept sums of money from others totaling 81.03 million yuan ($11 million),” the Communist Party-run People’s Daily newspaper reported. His actions “caused serious consequences for the national football industry,” it added.

In the same month, Li Tie, former head coach of China’s national team and an ex-Everton midfielder, pleaded guilty to accepting over $10.7 million in bribes and helping fix matches.

In May, state broadcaster CCTV reported that Gou Zhongwen, former director of the General Administration of Sport of China, was under investigation for corruption.

In August, a Chinese court sentenced Li Yuyi, a former vice president of the CFA, to 11 years in prison for taking bribes. He was also fined $140,000, and assets obtained through corruption were confiscated and turned over to the state, the court said.

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