Football: Ex-Chinese football chiefs given life bans, Shenhua hit

BEIJING (REUTERS) - Two former Chinese football chiefs have been banned for life after they were jailed in June for accepting bribes while Shanghai Shenhua have been hit by a points deduction for next season, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Nan Yong, the former head of Chinese football, was sentenced to 10 and a half years for taking bribes worth more than 1.48 million yuan (S$293,500) while his predecessor Xie Yalong received an identical sentence and was also fined 200,000 yuan.

In total 58 people have been punished by the Chinese Football Association's (CFA) discipline commission, concluding a three-year long push to clean up rampant corruption in the sport.

Former CFA deputy head Yang Yimin and World Cup referee Lu Jun, once hailed as China's "Golden Whistle", were among 33 people banned from soccer for life.