No place for corruption in our sports

CHINESE footballer Li Tie is a well known figure, a celebrity in fact.

He played for English Premier League clubs Everton and Sheffield United in 2002s. He became successful when he was heading Chinese clubs like Hebei China Fortune, and was China’s national coach in 2020 and 2021.

Yesterday, the 47-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was found guilty of giving and accepting bribes when he was heading the clubs.

It was an expose through a documentary broadcast by China’s state television in January that led to his sentence.

We have to say: “Well done, China.”

The government’s anti corruption campaign has borne fruit. And Li Tie was not the first to be nabbed.

In March, a former chairman of the Chinese Football Association was sentenced to life in prison.

Seeing big names being brought to justice for malpractice gives hope.

It shows that fame, money and influence will not help someone if they commit a crime unlike in certain countries, where matters are swept under the carpet, if a person has clout or social status.

In Malaysia, the badminton fraternity was shocked last Tuesday when the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) released a statement that they were being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

MACC officers had visited their headquarters “to request certain information” and they had fully cooperated.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki also confirmed in a recent The Star report that a BAM committee member was one of six individuals called to assist in investigations into alleged corruption. MACC made it clear that they will also call the person linked to the allegations.

But one is innocent until proven guilty, and as Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said, we should allow the due process to take place first.

OFFICIAL corruption cases are rare in Malaysian sports – it’s not really a grave problem that surfaces every year unlike in other countries where many FIFA officials were arrested and athletics officials questioned.

I emphasise the word “official” because unofficially, we do hear a lot of talk on the ground – quiet whispers here and there.

As long as there is no proof, we should not be talking too much about it. No one wants to be called an ultracrepidarian – someone who speaks a lot on things he has little knowledge about.

But there are many who are the opposite. They know of the ills but would rather not – or are afraid to – talk about them.

The thing is, corruption exists in sports, and those who really know about it should expose the culprits.

There was evidence in 2018 when professional shuttlers Zulfadli Zulkifli and Tan Chun Seang were banned for 20 and 15 years respectively by the World Badminton Federation (BWF) for match-fixing.

In 2021, eight young Indonesian players were banned for match-fixing.

The world body have been diligent in this matter and their fight for zero corruption is commendable.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have also done the same. In 2014, they fined 17 Kuala Lumpur players RM5,000 each for their involvement in match-fixing.

It was minor punishment as the FAM believed they had been pressured by “bigger fish” into corruption. Of course, the big clean-up was way back in 1994 when more than 200 players and coaches were banned from football.

Corruption in sports is not only about fixing matches and abuse of power in the decision-making process but is also related to abuse of association funds and using positions to get bribes.

In the MACC website, the definition of corruption is clearly spelt out.

“It’s the act of giving or receiving of any gratification or reward in the form of cash or in-kind of high value for performing a task in relation to his or her job description.

They however, also stated that they will take action against those who know but fail to report. These people will be protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Those who know about the ills in our sports should come forward. Corruption takes the fun away from sport and destroys the meaning of fair play.

Stamping out corruption is important and not for just the image of the sport. Only corruption-free practices will develop good athletes, coaches, officials, sponsors and fans with hearts and character.

So, once again, well done China, thank you for leading the way.