Ex-soccer star gets death sentence

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-27 08:01

GUANGZHOU: A former soccer player was sentenced to death with two years' reprieve Wednesday for killing a man after failing to pay gambling debts last year, a local court said.

Wen Junwu, who played for the Guangzhou-based Apollo Football Club, which is no longer in existence, was also charged with stealing from Li Jiahao, the man he killed, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court said Wednesday.

Wen, 30, who was widely regarded as a promising star during his time with the club (1997-99), pleaded guilty to the crimes in court.

Wen Junwu [L]

Two of Wen's friends Xie Weicheng and Liu Simin, who were involved in the case, were sentenced to death with two years' reprieve and six years in jail, respectively.

Wen and Xie owed Li up to 80,000 yuan ($11,700) in gambling debts, the court said.

Wen started gambling two years after his debut in the top China football league in 1997, when his annual pay was 200,000 yuan.

But he lost almost all of his money gambling, the court said.

On June 11 last year, Wen and Xie, under the instructions of Li, gambled on Internet but lost at least 50,000 yuan.

A day later, Wen and Xie persuaded Liu to join the plot to kill Li in the downtown district of Haizhu in Guangzhou, after they failed to pay the debts, and stole more than 1,000 yuan from Li, the court said.

The three were arrested two weeks later. The first trial against Wen was heard in February.

They were also ordered to pay more than 330,000 yuan in compensation to Li's family.