Eradicating cancer in Chinese sports
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However, sports-gambling is very likely to induce match-fixing. Those who run the gambling services are motivated by money, just as those in a sports lottery. The difference is that in countries where gambling is not allowed, sports-gambling is also illegal. Running the lottery in a legal way could have a good cover – for instance, in order to raise money for national sports operations. Be it illegal gambling, legal gambling (as in some places) or a legal lottery, all are based on the same thing – trying one's luck with "wisdom," such as probability or buyers. The true difference is the nature of the business: for a gambling industry, the money eventually flows to the individual investor(s) or company/companies, while in a legal lottery the organizer is often an approved business with a legitimate purpose, often by a certain level of government.
The existence of gambling could prompt its legal or illegal organizers to speed up the gathering of money as revenue faster than it ought to be, by fixing games or matches. This has the potential to seriously harm the sport. It is hard to imagine coaches and players would bet on their own team losing simply because they would be awarded financially, either by bets or getting paid by the match-fixer(s). But this is what has happened. Deception and corruption have tainted the fair play of the game, fooled fans and degraded the quality of the game as well. Such misconduct not only violates the code of socialism, but also violates the true essence of a market economy. A contemporary market economy is based on honesty and rule of law. Even where gambling is legal, match-fixing is not.
Match-fixing hurts the future of the entire sports business. The National Soccer Association has remained indifferent for too long. One can speculate that either the association doesn't want to act, or it is not acting because some of its leaders have been implicated in the scandal. Furthermore, it raises the question of why China's law enforcement agencies have taken so long to act. They don't need to wait for someone to bring the case to them. As a national security agency for public interest, it has a responsibility to keep the country clean.
With China moving toward a market economy over the past three decades, the country has lifted its economy significantly, although its value system has yet to catch up with it. Traditionally, Chinese are good at laboring, manufacturing and trading. Chinese also tend to keep distance with money when it might conflict with a spiritual value. There are numerous stories to describe how Chinese intellectuals act when they confront situations that could result in either a common good or a personal gain. Many of those who led the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912 and the People's Republic of China in 1949 were well-educated intellectuals who aspired to lift the fate of the nation by staging a revolution, risking their lives rather than seeking personal fortune.
Comparing this spirit with greed for money during a reform period causes serious concern. Indeed, to develop is not easy, but it is important to seek money in accordance with legal norms and social customs. Obviously, when a sizable portion of China's leadership in the soccer world is in question, it is time to question the value system. It is sad to see the drive for money pre-empt and the nation's soul deteriorate.
Hopefully China's law enforcement sector will prove its power to rout the disease, as it has done lately in Chongqing. Yet it remains to be seen how serious the government will handle this disaster that has shamed the country. On the one hand, we need our legal system to play its rightful role, bringing justice whenever it can. On the other hand, it is perhaps more important that our citizens are educated to consciously respect the law. A responsible system shall nurture its people to fear the law and a credible government shall maintain national security by eradicating this form of cancer from the body.
If we don't fight against the virus infecting the soccer industry, our system will otherwise continue to be infected, and China's rise will stall. Soccer with such soil can go nowhere. It is high time China gets serious against sports crimes, assuring its people and the world that it is an accountable and respectable state.
