Chinese Football Association Photo:VCG

Two more officials from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) have been placed under investigation for severe disciplinary violations, bringing the total number of CFA officials under investigation to 13 since November, 2022, amid China's intense efforts to crack down on corruption in football.

The latest probe, announced by Hubei's discipline inspection and supervision body on Saturday, involves Qi Jun, head of the CFA's strategic planning department, and Tan Hai, the director of the association's technical department.

Qi and Tan were taken away together by CFA's disciplinary inspection and supervision officials while attending an important CFA meeting on Friday morning, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

Qi had been the head of the competition department of the CFA for a long time and became the head of the strategic planning department in August 2021. He was the team leader of China's National Football Team during the Qatar World Cup qualification campaign. Qi is also an online celebrity with more than 200,000 followers on social media platform Sina Weibo.

Tan became the youngest national-level referee at 25 years of age before being accredited as an international-level referee administered by the CFA in 2004. He was recognized as referee of the year in 2011, 2014 and 2015 by the Chinese Football Association Super League, according to public information.

Counting in Qi and Tan, a total of 13 CFA officials have been placed under investigation since November 2022 when an investigation into former head coach of the Chinese men's football team Li Tie was initiated.

As China's football industry faces an anti-graft crackdown, sports authorities have conducted several meetings to reflect on the problems that have emerged in the industry.

For example, the Director of the General Administration of Sports Gao Zhidan said at a meeting on education work in the national football industry in May that national football administrators should learn lessons, fulfill their responsibilities to prevent corruption, and ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to engage in corrupt practices, local media reported.

Global Times