Manchester United friendly was fixed, admits corrupt Chinese referee

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A high-profile Chinese referee has confessed in court to receiving bribes to fix two international friendlies – one of them involving Manchester United – as well as six Chinese club matches between 2005 and 2009.

Huang Junjie, who was shortlisted for a refereeing award in 2009, admitted receiving money in relation to a match that year between Sydney FC and China's Shanghai Shenhua, and to United's 6-0 friendly win over Shenzhen FC in 2007. There is no suggestion that the clubs involved were aware of any suspicious activity.

According to China's official Xinhua news agency, Huang admitted accepting over £160,000 in bribes to fix the international and domestic matches, and also to accepting bribes from his colleague Zhou Weixin to sway results. Zhou is also facing charges of corruption as well as bribing civil servants.

Corruption hearings against some of China's leading officials began on Monday when the former head of the Super League, Zhang Jianqiang, faced charges of accepting match-fixing bribes totalling £260,000.

Another referee, Lu Jun, will stand trial on Wednesday while 20 other former officials and referees are scheduled to face the courts at later dates.

The hearings are part of a crackdown on corruption that has reached the top levels of the game in China, and led to the downfall of the head of the Chinese Football Association.

According to state media, CFA officials routinely fixed matches, including national team and league games, by allegedly buying off the teams or referees involved. Association officials also reportedly accepted pay-offs from players who wanted to be named to the national team – a practice widespread among league clubs also.

Sponsors abandoned the sport, and state television network CCTV refused to broadcast Super League games.

Manchester United friendly was fixed, admits corrupt Chinese referee | Football | guardian.co.uk