Soccer: Sydney FC deny any knowledge of match-fixing

Sydney FC have denied any knowledge of match-fixing after a Chinese referee confessed in court to accepting bribes for fixing games. Photo / Getty Images

Sydney FC have denied any knowledge of match-fixing after a Chinese referee confessed in court to accepting bribes for fixing games, including a Sky Blues fixture from two years ago.

Well-known Chinese referee Huang Junjie admitted on Tuesday to accepting more than $250,000 in bribes to fix two international friendlies and six Chinese club matches between 2005 and 2009, amid a series of corruption hearings involving top football officials.

One of those matches was a 2009 post-season fixture between Sydney FC and China's Shanghai Shenhua which the Sky Blues lost 2-1.

"Sydney FC travelled to Shanghai to play the friendly in 2009 and at no stage during the trip or the match was there anything that would have alerted Sydney FC to the situation that has been raised today," the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

Coach Vitezslav Lavicka remembered nothing suspicious about the match.

"I remember that game ... but there's no point to give it any credit, it's a very strange situation," he said.

"I don't remember anything out of ordinary ... that's in the past now."

Huang, a veteran of more than 20 years, in 2009 was among three shortlisted for best Chinese referee of the year.

The tainted matches that Huang officiated included a 2007 exhibition match between English Premier League champions Manchester United and China's Shenzhen FC.

Corruption hearings against some of China's top footballing officials kicked off on Monday with Zhang Jianqiang, the former head referee of the Super League, in court to face charges of accepting match-fixing bribes totalling $409,600.

Referee Lu Jun, who had previously officiated World Cup and Olympic football matches, will stand trial on Wednesday while about 20 other former officials and referees are to face the courts later this week.

The hearings are part of a crackdown on corruption that have reached the top echelons of the game in China, and led to the downfall of the head of the Chinese Football Association.

- AAP