Police raided the Beijing villa of the detained former head of China's football association, finding gold, diamonds and other booty that could land him 10 years in jail, state press said Tuesday. Police confiscated over 100 items, including expensive watches and diamonds, that Nan Yong confessed he accepted from clubs and referees when he was working at the Chinese Football Association, the Shanghai Oriental Sports Daily said.
Nan and two of his top CFA lieutenants were taken in for questioning in January and later arrested on bribe-taking and match-fixing charges in a scandal that shook the already tainted game in China. The controversy has mushroomed, with scores of football officials and referees taken into police custody.
Nan had served as a top association official since 1999. He was named to the leading post of CFA Communist Party secretary in 2005 and head of the CFA in January 2009. Nan could be jailed for over 10 years based on punishment meted out to other government officials convicted for similar graft, the paper said. "If the circumstances of his crimes are particularly odious, he could also be sentenced to death and have all of his personal assets confiscated," it added.