World Cup referees involved in fixing row

Lu Jun, who had officiated in two World Cup matches, several Asian Football Confederation games and more than 200 Chinese league matches before retiring in 2005, was among those detained for taking bribes, Chinese media reported.

Others reportedly detained were Huang Junjie, a nominee last year for the China Super League’s best referee award, and Zhou Weixin, who retired in 2004 after being given an eight-game suspension for a bad call. The reports quoted the head of the official football association, Wei Di, as confirming the arrests, but gave no other details.

“I was really shocked and hurt when Lu’s name cropped up in the scandal,” Wei was quoted as saying by the official China Daily newspaper. “He is undoubtedly a first-rate referee in terms of working ability, but his morals are a far cry from his ‘golden whistle’ reputation.”