Tackling football's woes

While Chinese fans are staying up all night to watch the European football extravaganza, the jail terms for several former football officials for bribery or match-fixing have highlighted the ugly side of the beautiful game in this country.

Among those who were punished on Tuesday, Nan Yong and Xie Yalong, the former heads of Chinese football, were the highest-ranking officials caught up in the campaign to clean up the corruption-blighted local game two years ago. Also sentenced to jail terms were four footballers on the former national team.

China does not lack interest in this game. But corruption, match-fixing and mismanagement have deprived the game of its beauty in this country. The malpractices have spoiled the pool of skilled players and made it impossible to raise the standard of the matches.