A Chinese soccer referee has admitted in court to taking bribes to fix local and international matches, including making sure a local team won the toss in a friendly involving Manchester United, state media reported.
The case of Huang Junjie, a referee for more than 20 years who has been nominated as one of the country's best, is one of a number of hearings under way following a probe into Chinese football corruption.
He accepted $245,000 of bribes to fix two international friendlies and taking 20 bribes from six Chinese clubs between 2005 and 2009, Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.
The international matches included a 2007 exhibition match between the English Premier League's Manchester United and China's Shenzhen. Huang took 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($13,000) in bribes to let Shenzhen win the coin toss, Xinhua said. Manchester United went on to win the game 6-0.
The other international match was a 2009 fixture between Shanghai Shenhua and Australian club Sydney, which the Chinese club won 2-1.
