On Dec. 8, 68-year-old Gou Zhongwen, a former minister of the Chinese General Administration of Sport (CGAS), was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes (bribery) and abusing his power as a government official. The news came via a new report from state-run network, China Central Television (CCTV) News.
According to a ruling from the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China, Gou abused his positions as vice mayor of the Beijing municipal government (2008-2013) and the CGAS (2016-2022) to accept assets and property equivalent to over ￥236 million RMB ($33.4 million USD).
“Sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve” means that Gou could, with good behavior while incarcerated for two years, avoid being put to death and will instead serve out a life sentence.
Gou was also the president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, and executive chairman of the Operation Committee of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games.
The affiliation of China’s esports has become an invisible issue in China as the industry has grown increasingly popular. Technically, China Esports falls under the General Administration of Sport, as esports was designated China’s 99th official sport and the 78th in 2008 by the General Administration. However, the upstream of esports lies in game publishers and games, which also fall under the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA)’s jurisdiction, a department directly under the Publicity Department of China’s purview. NPPA is widely known as the department that controls game approvals in the country.
When China fully applied the toughest anti-game-addiction regulation via the NPPA in 2021, which limited people under 18 years old to only play three hours a week in China, the Chinese esports industry was also affected as all registered players had to be over the age of 18 years old. Other sports athletes in China do not have these age limits, nor are there such requirements for esports players in Europe, Russia, and the U.S. (though a legal guardian’s cooperation is often required, as some jurisdictions assert that minors can not enter into legally binding contracts). The General Administration of Sports, under the leadership of Gou, could have had the power to improve the situation.
On top of this news, sources close to China’s sports industry told The Esports Advocate that Gou was generally not considered a supporter, advocate, or believer in esports.
The new head of CGAS is Gao Zhidan.