What China WON’T abide is basketball-game fixing

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Paying off Canadian politicians? Fixing Canadian elections? Yawn, all good.

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Buying off Bidens? Sure, no probs.

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Invading Taiwan? Just you wait.

But, hey, the world needs to know China draws the damn line at fixing domestic pro basketball games. The world’s most populous nation simply cannot abide that treachery.

According to various reports, two teams have been given the boot from the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs for suspected match-fixing.

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In a first-round playoff game last week, the Shanghai Sharks rallied from a 100-96 deficit with 1:36 remaining to defeat the Jiangsu Dragons. The Sharks were helped by an unlikely string of consecutive Dragons turnovers — on five straight possessions — that enabled a 10-0 Shanghai run en route to a 108-104 comeback victory.

Ah, but the Sharks did not escape censure themselves. That team was charged with purposely giving up early in Game 2 of the series, a loss, so that star player Eric Bledsoe, a former NBA player, would burn all of his four-game suspension by the start of Round 2.

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The league thus determined that the Sharks and Dragons both engaged in match fixing. As punishment, each club was kicked out of the playoffs, fined $950,000 and had its regular-season records expunged.

Furthermore, according to the South China Morning Post, Sharks head coach Li Chunjiang and GM Jiang Yusheng, as well as Dragons head coach Li Nan and GM Shi Linjie, were all banned from the league for at least three years.

In a statement, the CBA said “all league participants must firmly establish correct values, the concept of honour and disgrace, and earnestly abide by national laws, regulations and various management systems of the league.”

Gee, can those league leaders be put in charge of the whole country? Even if it means high-ranking politicians on this side of the Pacific Ocean must seek funding or payoffs elsewhere?

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@JohnKryk