FIFA extends bans to 58 in Chinese fixing cases

Shen Si (left) fights for the ball with Zinedine Zidane in a 2003 match.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

ZURICH (AP) -- FIFA has given worldwide bans to 58 soccer players and officials found guilty in Chinese match-fixing cases.

FIFA says it expelled 33 people from the game for life and 25 others will serve five-year bans for involvement in "domestic match-fixing and bribery.''

All those banned were previously sanctioned by the Chinese soccer association.

Life bans were imposed on referee Lu Jun, who officiated two 2002 World Cup matches, and four former Chinese national team players: Shen Si, Qi Hong, Jiang Jin and Li Ming.

FIFA says the sanctions follow investigations and trials conducted by law enforcement and soccer authorities from 2010-12.

FIFA says the fixed matches were played "in the 1990s and early 2000s.''

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