The China Team's success is due to China's unerring stance on sports corruption. (Photo : Reuters)
China's crackdown on corruption goes beyond government bodies and officials. China's sports authority also vowed to remove corruption and make match-fixing an impossibility.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection published a report by the State General Administration of Sports following a discipline inspection in 2014. According to the report of GAS, the body stated that it would take measures to resolve the problems identified by the commission.
"Athlete recruitment and referee appointments will be conducted under open and transparent supervision" to make both corruption and match-fixing stop, the statement reads.
If there was a country that could stop corruption and match-fixing, it would be China. Compared to other countries' sports organizations, China's sports organizations and officials have a higher capacity to stop corruption because of their top-down management structure. The organization would therefore have the ability to screen and train medalists to compete and avoid malpractice and violations.
According to the GASC, severe punishments await those who would engage in illegal practices.
The GASC stated that a crackdown of these unfair and illegal practices is necessary and timely, especially because sports is an arena where the country can receive wide accolade in the international community. Gold medals won in international sports competitions such as the Olympic Games and the National Games can boost officials' credentials and the country's morale. Not to mention, it could also improve the country's economy.
Because of the intense pressure linked to winning gold medals, the GASC surmised that some are willing to pursue top ranks at the expense of sportsmanship and fair play. This should be changed.
"The participating teams will no longer be ranked by the medals they win at the National Games, in a bid to avoid the blind pursuit of medals," GASC statement reads.
"The performance of the sports administration will be assessed on multiple criteria, including public participation in sports and cost-efficiency of public sports investments," GASC added.
