Four former China national team players and a former World Cup referee were banned for life, having been jailed a year ago for the same offenses.

CNN: Key match-fixing suspect 'assisting' police

And the chief executive revealed that Chelsea have offered the China national football team the use of their facilities ahead of the 2008 games.

BBC: SPORT | Football | My Club | Chelsea | Kenyon denies rift with Mourinho

But mired by the controversies, China's national team has been struggling to make an impression and failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup after finishing third in a group behind Iraq and Jordan.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Referees were put through an anticorruption boot camp in March, and perhaps feeling the pressure to show results, China's national team in February scored a shocking 3-0 victory over Korea in the East Asian Men's Soccer Championship in Tokyo.

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China's national baseball team, preparing a major challenge at next year's Olympics, trained with and played against top American clubs this March.

FORBES: Major League Tsunami

That may help answer a nagging question about China: Why is the men's national soccer team so bad?

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Xian's judo joy lifted the mood for China on a day when basketball icon Yao warned his days in the national team could be numbered after losing to Spain.

CNN: Thai gold as Asian athletes excel

The authors, a team of scientists from China, Britain and America, found that when comparing national and provincial statistics between 1997 and 2010 a startling gap appeared.

ECONOMIST: Climate change