Two teams from the Chinese Basketball Association were disqualified from the playoffs after an investigation identified both teams as participants in match-fixing, announced the league Monday. Teams were also fined, and their coaches and general managers banned for three to five years.
The Shanghai Sharks and Jiangsu Dragons were found guilty of “being passive in competition” during Games 2 and 3 of the Quarterfinals playoff series.
The Sharks were accused of “giving up” in the second half of Game 2 so that former NBA star Eric Bledsoe would only miss the Quarterfinal game if the team won Game 3. Bledsoe was suspended for four games prior to the playoff series with Jiangsu. . Meanwhile, the Dragons hit five consecutive turnovers in the final two minutes of the game helping the Sharks to a 10-0 win to advance to the semi-finals.
Each club was fined five million Chinese yuan (about $727,000), according to him Chinese sports journalist Mark Dreyer. Shanghai coach Li Chunjiang was banned for five years, Jiangsu coach Li Nan was banned for three years, Jiangsu general manager Shi Linjie was banned for five years, and Shanghai manager Jiang Yusheng was banned for three years.
Yao Ming, president of the Chinese Basketball Association, the NBA Hall of Fame, called the news “very sad” during a press conference on Monday. Ming played for the Sharks from 1997-2002 before the Houston Rockets placed him at number one in 2002.
“We did a very prudent investigation to help us make the decision based on specific issues,” Meng said. ChinaDaily.com. “We think everyone is very sad about this.
“For sports, the most important thing is reputation, not ability. Credit is what everyone, every team, league and league is built on. We need to draw a deep lesson from this and change a few things in the future to make what we paid precious for.”