Former Chinese soccer chief charged with taking 1.72 million in bribes

Dandong, Liaoning Province, Apr 24 (Xinhua-ANI): Former Chinese Football Association (CFA) chief Xie Yalong has been charged with taking 1.7 million Yuan (about 273,000 U.S. dollars) bribes as a northeastern Chinese court opened the second round of trials on soccer corruption on Tuesday morning.

The 56-year-old Xie, who had been the CFA chief for three years before handing the job to Nan Yong, faces 12 counts of bribe-taking totaling 1,727,800 Yuan at Dandong Intermediate People's Court.

Nan Yong will also stand trial on bribe-taking charges in a different court in Liaoning Province on Wednesday.

Xie's attorney Jin Xiaohui told the Chinese portal Sina that the former soccer head had denied "parts of the charges" against him in the court.

Xie and Nan are the highest-ranking officials caught in China's ever-widening crackdown on soccer corruption, which has brought down dozens of high-ranking soccer officials, referees and players.

Four former Chinese internationals - Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming - will be tried on bribe-taking charges on Wednesday in Shenyang, Liaoning's provincial capital. (Xinhua-ANI)