Chinese basketball investigates suspicious game result
The Chinese Basketball Association has ordered an investigation into a championship round game that ended with a last-minute, come-from-behind win following a series of turnovers
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chinese basketball authorities have ordered an investigation into a championship-round game that ended with a last-minute, come-from-behind win following a series of turnovers.
The investigation points to continuing suspicions about wide-spread corruption in Chinese sports, with the nation’s top-flight professional soccer league particularly hard-hit.
In Friday’s Game 3 of the first round of the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs, the Jiangsu Dragons led the Shanghai Sharks 100-96 with 1 minute, 36 seconds left to play.
The Dragons then committed a series of turnovers over the next minute, giving the Sharks a 10-point lead. The game ended in a 108-104 win for Shanghai and a 2-1 victory in the series, sending them into the quarterfinals.
Fans immediately cried foul and the CBA, headed by former Houston Rockets eight-time NBA all-star Yao Ming, announced Saturday it was demanding answers.
“The Chinese Basketball Association has paid great attention to the CBA playoff game between Shanghai and Jiangsu, which has triggered huge doubts from media and fans," the association said in a statement on its social media account.
"We have tasked the CBA League (Beijing) Sports Co., Ltd. with launching an investigation into the matter, and requested the two clubs to submit their reports on the match,” the statement said. Punishments would be meted out for any violations found, it said, without giving specifics.
Match-fixing in China is believed to be controlled by influential gambling syndicates, with players, coaches, referees and association officials all involved. Soccer has been much more heavily targeted than basketball, where compensation, sponsorships and prize money are less generous.
Basketball remains enormously popular in China, mostly because of Yao's storied NBA career. That's despite a year-long ban on NBA games being shown in the country after a team executive angered Beijing with remarks supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.
The CBA has produced relatively few international stars in recent years, with the last, Zhou Qi, playing one season for the Rockets in 2017-2018.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports