China sets up new national sports arbitration center

China opened its first national sports arbitration center this week in Beijing, the capital, taking a key step to strengthen the legal framework for resolving sports disputes and protect athletes' rights.

Part of a broader effort to professionalize and standardize sports, the move follows recent high-profile corruption cases in the hugely popular sport of football.

The center, under China's General Administration of Sport (GAS), will handle the daily operations of a national sports arbitration commission set up in February 2023, the state-run Global Times newspaper said.

The commission has handled 100 cases in sports ranging from chess to football, ice hockey, field hockey, taekwondo and marathons.

Disputes ranged over issues such as athlete registration and transfers, youth training compensation, disciplinary actions, competition eligibility and results, the paper added.

'Landmark achievement'

The setting-up of the center was a "landmark achievement" in China's sports governance, Li Jing, a deputy director of GAS, said at the inauguration.

"Its implementation ensures order in sports development and strengthens the rule of law in the sector," the paper quoted Li as saying.

Domestic football is likely to be a key focus, with the sport marred by graft that fans have blamed for the underperformance of the men's national team.

In September, Chinese football authorities handed life bans to 38 players and five officials after a two-year investigation into match-fixing and gambling.

In August, a former vice president of the national football association was jailed for 11 years for taking bribes, with another former official getting a seven-year term for the same offence.