CHINA: From Monday to Friday Zhang Jian Jun is a PE teacher at the No. 54 Middle School in the Hepingli district of Beijing. At weekends, the 37-year-old dons a black uniform and referees games in China's professional soccer league.
Up to recently, Zhang was regarded as one of the top officials in Chinese soccer, and a man destined for duty on the international football stage.
But Zhang now finds himself at the centre of the so-called "Black Whistle" scandal, one of the biggest soccer corruption cases to hit the country.
The name "Black Whistle" stems from the annual "Golden Whistle" award presented by the Chinese Football Association for the best referee in China. Ever since professional soccer came to China eight years ago there have been rumours and speculation about money changing hands, matches being fixed and referees receiving back-handers to allow dubious goals to stand and to award penalties in crucial games.
In one case 18 months ago, riot police had to intervene in the historic city of Xi'an after local fans converged on the referee's dressing room. He had denied the home team what seemed a perfectly good goal which would have clinched its promotion to the top division.
Ironically, it was last October, just as China's national team was about to qualify for its first ever World Cup soccer finals, that corruption suspicions increased following the results in two separate second division games.
One of the matches involved referee Zhang. With only minutes of a match to go, a team from Guangzhou in the south of China walked off the pitch in protest after Zhang allowed a questionable goal to the home team, Shanghai Zhongyuan, leading to the side's promotion.
That same day another team from the city of Chengdu raised many eyebrows when they beat neighbours, Sichuan, by a record 11 goals to two. It just so happened that Chengdu needed a big goal difference over their nearest rivals to ensure promotion.
A week later, as all of China celebrated the victory over Oman which clinched them a place in the World Cup soccer finals, another episode occurred on what has become known in soccer circles here as "Black Sunday". Chengdu once again astonished everyone by coming from 2-0 behind to win 4-2 in their final game, while their rivals for second place, Changchun Yantai, won their game 6-0.
A TV investigation put forward evidence that "soft goals" had been scored in both games.
The Chinese Football Association carried out a short inquiry after which it punished six division two teams for match fixing. All the teams were fined, one team was denied promotion and another was relegated. All the clubs were charged with match fixing and all the players and coaches from the clubs were suspended for a year.
However, two of the clubs, one from Guangzhou and the other from Hangzhou, felt they had been too harshly punished and decided to tell the full story. They held press conferences in December, claiming they had paid referees sums of money ranging from €6,000 to €20,000 to help them win their homes matches, and also to encourage them to award penalties in crucial games.
They claimed that only two of China's top referees were averse to taking bribes, and the practice was widespread.
Further fuel was added to the fire last week when the state news agency, Xinhua, said it had in its possession a list of eight referees who had taken money.
Shanghai TV published the list which included the Golden Whistle Award winner for 2001, university professor Sun Baojie. He has since hotly denied the allegations.
Despite mounting evidence, the Chinese FA has still not sought a criminal investigation, saying it is not sure whether specific laws have been broken. It says it prefers for now to do its own inquiring.
It's small wonder. Some media reports suggest that senior officials in the FA may have acted as "go-betweens" in the collection of money from clubs for referees, taking their cut in the process.
Fans are furious at what has been happening and in polls published this week said they had no confidence in the FA carrying out a proper investigation.
In the meantime, referee Zhang Jian Jun is declining to comment on the allegations against him. Last week, when The Irish Times visited his school, he was not there. We were told he is not expected back until next week as students in the school were currently sitting exams.
Mr Zhang is paid approximately €200 a month in his teaching job. His fee to referee a soccer game is €60. It has been reported that some referees in Chinese soccer, many of them teachers, enjoy expensive lifestyles.
It is unlikely the men in black implicated in the soccer corruption scandal will get the "red card". Instead of facing criminal inquiry, the country's top referees were this weekend attending a "re-education programme" on ethical principles at the headquarters of the Chinese Football Association in central Beijing.
This may not be enough to satisfy enraged fans and the clubs that have come clean. What it all adds up to is one big embarrassment for Chinese football as it prepares to take part in its first-ever World Cup finals in South Korea in June.
miriamd@163bj.com