CFA Officials Wasted $7.2 Million in Two Years

Vietnam player Nguyen Phong Hong Duy (L) fights for the ball with China's Zhang Linpeng (R) during the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier final round Group B match between Vietnam and China at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 1, 2022. Minh Hoang/Getty Images

Du Zhaocai, former Party secretary of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and a former member of the FIFA Council, is under investigation for alleged serious violations of Party discipline and the law, China’s anti-graft body announced on April 1.

Du was also the deputy head of the General Administration of Sport of China. Since the former football head coach Li Tie was investigated on Nov. 6, 2022, China has investigated at least nine CFA officials in its anti-corruption probe.

The announcement gave no further details about the charges, but Chinese media revealed Du collected 1.8 billion yuan (about $260 million) in funds since he took the CFA post in 2017; the staff of CFA is alleged to have wasted 50 million yuan (about $7.27 million) in two years under his watch.

Huge Player-Transfer Leverage Fee

According to the Chinese media report, Du started to get involved with Chinese football as the Party secretary of CFA in 2017.

At the same time, the CFA requested clubs to pay a “player-transfer leverage fee” if they spend 45 million yuan (about $6.55 million) or more on each foreign player or for local players priced over 20 million yuan (about $2.91 million).

The regulation was said to limit sky-rocketing fees ahead of the summer transfer window by “limiting clubs chasing short-term results and over-spending on new players.”

The fees were said to be paid into the China Football Development Fund or redirected into each club’s youth system.

Since implementing the policy, CFA has collected over 1.8 billion yuan ($260 million) in fees. According to the Chinese media report, most of the fees were likely gone through the management of Du and Chen Xuyuan, former CFA chairman who was under investigation for corruption this February.

Mainly, the alleged youth-development funds were spent but with no receipts of the transactions, said the Chinese media report.

Children play soccer on a practice pitch at the Evergrande International Football School in Guangdong Province, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

The report indicated that the “player-transfer leverage fee” was Du’s first significant initiative after taking the CFA post.

Starting in the second half of 2021, several financially constrained clubs asked for the return of the fees, and the CFA began facing questions regarding the legality of the fees in 2022. However, it is understood that only Evergrande received a partial refund, said the report.

Unknown Flow of Bidding Fee

After the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed that China would stage the 18th AFC Asian Cup, China established its local organizing committee in Beijing in Oct. 2020.

To prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup, China confirmed 10 host cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Suzhou.

As the Chinese organizing committee’s executive chairman, Du again initiated a “bidding fee” for domestic cities.

The fee was set at a minimum payment of 15 million yuan (about $2.18 million) and a cap of 30 million yuan (about $4.36 million). The 15 million yuan is only for hosting the group stage. If the city is to continue hosting the knockout stage, the cost will increase by up to 30 million yuan.

Many cities invested heavily in building or remodeling stadiums to meet the requirements of the AFC.

However, Beijing gave up its rights to the tournament in May 2022. Du was said to insist on canceling the hosting rights.

The Chinese hosting cities also received notice from AFC that each city will receive a refund of 8 million yuan (about $1.16 million).

Chinese media reported that the Chinese organizing committee was disbanded two years after its establishment. The committee, composed initially of around 60 people, “relentlessly spent more than 50 million yuan ($7.27 million) of the budget in two years,” said the Chinese media.

Reorganization of the CFA

While questioning how the 50 million yuan was spent, the media also revealed another of Du’s initiatives. He reorganized the CFA in 2018, a year after taking the CFA post.

As a result of the reorganization, there were 30 departments under the direct management of the CFA Party secretary. Each department was led by Du’s acquaintances, according to the Chinese media report.

China’s national football team didn’t seem to benefit from the vast assets the CFA had collected. Last year, the Chinese team lost to Vietnam, ranked 99th. This year, the New Zealand team defeated China, ranked 100 out of 161 teams.

Fang Xiao contributed to this report.