43 people including 38 players were banned for life, accused of match-fixing, exposed after 2 years of investigation
The Chinese Football Association has imposed a lifetime ban on 43 people on charges of match-fixing and other corruption. This action of the association includes 38 players and 5 match officials. China's record is generally good in other sports. Due to this, it was in second place with 40 gold medals during the Olympics. But due to corruption in football, its situation has always been very bad. To improve it and eliminate corruption in this game, the Chinese Football Association has taken this step after a two-year-long investigation.
In this investigation of the China Football Association, 120 matches, 128 suspects, and 41 clubs were targeted. The association conducted a two-year-long investigation, after which 38 players and 5 match officials were found guilty. According to Xinhua News Agency, the investigation revealed that all of them were involved in online gambling, match-fixing, and corruption. At the same time, short-term bans have been imposed on some foreign players and officials. These also included some foreign players who had shifted to China for higher salaries.
The third round of the Asia qualification round for the 2026 World Cup has started. Last week, Japan defeated China 7-0. This was China's biggest defeat against Japan. Now it will face Saudi Arabia. The 2026 World Cup is to be hosted by America, Mexico, and Canada and 48 teams will participate in it. China is at number 87 in the current FIFA rankings. It still has a chance to qualify for it. Let us tell you that China had qualified for the World Cup once in 2002.
18 teams are competing for the FIFA World Cup 2026. They have been divided into 3 groups of 6 each (A, B, C). The top two teams of each group will directly qualify for the World Cup, while the number 3 and 4 teams will have to struggle again in the fourth round. All the teams have played one match each so far. After this, UAE and Iran are in Group A, Iraq and Jordan are in Group B, while Japan and Bahrain are in the top-2 in Group C. China is in the last position after losing to Japan in Group C.