Refs sweat buckets as CBA mops up

Chinese basketball fans can expect less on-court violence this season and fairer refereeing as China's top-flight league, which tips off next week, has pledged to impose harsher punishments on referees and clubs for any such infringements.

"This season we will put a knife to the neck of any referee who is involved in match-fixing or bribery," said Liu Xiaonong, a chief official with the Chinese Basketball Administrative Center (CBAC). "If a league is frequently linked to rumors of match-fixing, it means it has a big problem."

Scandals related to black-whistle refereeing and other examples of professional misconduct have cast a dark shadow on the sport here in recent years and hampered its development, something the CBAC stressed on Tuesday it is keen to rectify.