BEIJING • China's top graft-busting body rapped the sports ministry again yesterday for not taking the country's sweeping campaign against corruption seriously enough.

Corruption in international sport is in focus due to the United States' and Swiss probes into soccer's world governing body Fifa, as well as doping scandals that have rocked tennis and athletics.

China, which is seeking to stamp out graft in Communist Party and government ranks, has also sought to eject corrupt elements from its sports establishment, particularly within soccer, which has been hit by match-fixing scandals.

Last year, Deputy Sports Minister Xiao Tian, who sat on China's Olympics committee, and the then-volleyball chief came under investigation.

The ruling Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said its inspectors attached to the sports ministry had sent teams to departments dealing with swimming and gymnastics, among others.

It summoned 17 officials in charge of enforcing party discipline to find out if they were following party rules on fighting corruption, the watchdog said.

The inspection found that some ministry departments still did not sufficiently understand that the fight against corruption would never cease and that some people were less than enthusiastic about enforcing party discipline.

"Conscientiously resolve the difficult points and problems," the Commission said. "Remove oversight 'blind spots'."

The statement gave no details about specific problems it had found or people who may be punished.

Chinese Sports Minister Liu Peng warned last year that China had to ditch its gold obsession if it really wanted to weed out corruption.

REUTERS