State media reported on Tuesday that Chen Xuyuan, the former head of China’s National Football Association, has been sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes. This comes after one of the largest anti-corruption investigations in the sport in recent years.

The life sentence handed down to Chen, aged 67, marks the conclusion of an investigation into high-ranking football officials in China. This sport has long struggled with corruption, which fans attribute to the perpetual underperformance of the national team.

In the final episode of a four-part documentary series on corruption broadcast on national television in January, Chen revealed that the night before assuming the chairmanship of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) in 2019, he received backpacks, each containing 300,000 yuan ($41,600), from two local football officials who sought his favor.

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As reported by the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday, a court in central Hubei province found that Chen took advantage of his various posts from 2010 to 2023, which include those linked to the CFA and others in matters regarding project contracting, investment operations and sports events arrangements.

In return, Chen accepted money and valuables worth over 81m yuan ($11.2m), the court found.

Xinhua reported, citing his court ruling, that Chen had inflicted “tremendous damage” on Chinese football.

Other football officials investigated for corruption included Chen Yongliang, former executive deputy secretary general of the CFA, Yu Hongchen, a former vice head of the CFA, and Dong Zheng, former general manager of the Chinese Super League.

Chen Yongliang has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, Yu to 13 years, and Dong to eight years, according to state media.