Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the General Administration of Sport of China and former Party secretary of the Chinese Football Association, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a court in Hubei province on Friday for accepting bribes worth over 43.41 million yuan ($5.97 million).

Du was also fined 4 million yuan, and his illicit gains and relevant interests have been confiscated and would be turned over to the national treasury, according to the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court.

It said that from 2012 to 2022, Du took advantage of his various positions in the country's sports system to seek profits for relevant individuals and departments in matters such as event organization, personnel arrangement and player transfer, for which he accepted bribes of more than 43.41 million yuan in return.

The court identified Du's behavior as the crime of bribery, saying that he should be severely punished because the amount of bribes he received was "extremely huge" and his actions had seriously damaged the fair competition and environment of the soccer field.

Considering his confession to the offense, disclosure of unknown bribery instances, some unsuccessful bribery attempts and returning of all illicit gains, the court added that it made the ruling with leniency.

Du, 64, worked for China's sports system for decades. He was placed under investigation in April 2023. Soon after, he was expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from public office.

At the beginning of this year, he was indicted on the charge of bribery. In August, the Wuhan court heard the case.