Breaking News: Shenhua and Tianjin face 6 point deduction; Xu Hong barred from football for 5 years

Many people were back to work across China today and that was certainly the case at the CFA, where punishments were handed down to a number of different clubs for match fixing incidents. Of those teams, Shanghai Shenhua and Tianjin Teda, along with China League club Yanbian FC, faced the harshest punishments of both a fine and points deduction.

It has been widely known for many months that punishments were to be expected for these clubs, though it is a bit of a surprise so few clubs are facing points deductions. Shenhua and Tianjin were fined RMB 1 million and will start the 2013 season with six points deducted, Yanbian was fined RMB 500,00 and will start the season with three points deducted. Changchun Yatai, Shandong Luneng, Henan Construction, and Jiangsu Sainty among others also received fines of either RMB 1 million or RMB 500,000. All results for  Shenhua, Tianjin, and Yanbian are to be vacated, meaning Shenhua will be forced to give up their 2003 Jia A title.

There were also 37 individuals (some who have already been found guilty in the court cases that took place last year in Liaoning Province) that received long-term bans from football. The most surprising among the names is current former Dalian Aerbin manager Xu Hong, who is banned from any football related activities for five years, leaving the northeastern big spenders in a desperate search for yet another new manager. The club’s GM Li Ming is headed to Korea, where the club is currently training, and will take over managerial duties while they search for a new manager. Xu was the manager of Sichuan Guangcheng in 2003, who were found to have fixed a match, alongside Shenyang Ginde, to avoid relegation in 2003 (indeed a number of disbanded clubs and individuals who were with those clubs received punishments today).

That only Shenhua and Tianjin faced the harshest of the penalties is surely to be considered unfair in many circles as Shandong, and especially Changchun, were expected to face stricter penalties than what they received. While Shenhua and Tianjin were widely expected to struggle in 2013, the points deduction makes things that much harder for the two clubs.