2 top-flight soccer clubs relegated amid crackdown

Guangzhou GPC and Chengdu Blades - two of the nation's top-flight soccer league clubs - will be relegated to the second division, the Chinese Football Association's (CFA) disciplinary committee announced yesterday.

Also, second-division club Qingdao Hailifeng has been disqualified.

The three teams were found involved in match fixing and gambling. The teams have the right to appeal but the mountain of evidence unearthed during the nationwide crackdown on gambling means they have little chance of succeeding.