Not all ‘the evils of capitalism’: Match-fixing and the governance of Chinese professional football, 1994–2016

Abstract

Match-fixing has been a key term in Chinese professional football since its inception in the early 1990s. In the light of notorious match-fixing scandals, criticism has arisen that the professionalization of football and the inflow of the free market system mirror the evils of capitalism in post-reform Chinese society. This paper, however, aims to offer an alternative perspective on the inherent governing deficiencies of Chinese professional football, to elaborate on the causes of these match-fixing incidents. By analyzing the status of each corruption-involved actor within the governance structure of Chinese professional football, the paper argues that the following factors collectively account for a large part of the historical and institutional causation of the rampant match-fixing scandals in Chinese professional football: the underplayed role of sport law; the overplayed role of Chinese Football Association officials; the ambiguous ownership and decision-making processes of the clubs; and, the powerless and unprotected role of the referees, the players, and the coaches.