Save men's soccer

The high-profile judicial intervention is at best a belated confirmation of something glaringly obvious - Chinese men's soccer is a hotbed for everything unsavory.

With Ministry of Public Security and General Administration of Sport (GAS) officials vowing to be tough and thorough in the investigation of the match-fixing and gambling scandals, some expect this to be the "best and last" opportunity to save men's soccer.

It may well be the last. Because men's soccer in this country has alienated too many to sustain itself as a decent spectator sport. The better-than-expected revenues they just reported would, at the very best, be the last glow of dying embers unless serious housecleaning is undertaken.