Mikel’s club under Chinese FA investigation for match fixing

Super Eagles captain, Mikel John Obi’s Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda FC have been under investigation regarding possible match fixing in last weekend’s 4-1 derby clash win against Tianjin Quanjian, the Chinese Football Association has confirmed.

Former Italian international footballer and World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro saw his Tianjin Quanjian thrashed by rivals Tianjin Teda in a local Super League derby on Saturday.

The victory helped Teda out of the relegation zone and left Cannavaro’s Quanjian further adrift of the Asian Champions League play-off places in a game which saw two goals in two minutes of the first-half from Teda’s Frank Acheampong.

Mikel featured 90 minutes in the game, but the Chinese FA have already commenced investigation into the game, which was characterized with much controversy, including the alleged match-fixing scandal leveled against the two Tianjin clubs.

“The Chinese Football Association has launched an investigation into the CSL game between Tianjin Teda and Tianjin Quanjian,” a statement read.

“A probe panel consisting of CFA’s competition and legal departments, Committee for Ethics and Fair Play and a Disciplinary Commission will collect all available facts and evidence related to this game. Any violations of fair play would be severely dealt with according to the extant laws.”

China’s national football league has been the victim of many match fixing scandals since turning professional in 1994.

In 2013, Shangahi Shenhua former employers of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka – were deemed guilty of match fixing after a three-year probe saw the Chinese FA ban 58 current and former players, officials and referees from the sport. The discovery also resulted in the stripping of Shenhua’s 2003 league title.