Football coach arrested for match-fixing

Head coach of Sheffield United Hong Kong football club Zhang Weizhe has been arrested in China's match-fixing probe, the Yangtze Evening Post reported on Tuesday.

The report quoted insiders as saying that Zhang was suspected of match-fixing in the Hong Kong First Division Football League.

Zhang, 36, used to play for the Sichuan Quanxing football club as a defender in the 1990s.

After he retired from the sport, Zhang was appointed head coach of the youth team of the Chengdu Blades, a Chinese Super League club.

The team played in the Hong Kong first division league under the name of Sheffield United Hong Kong. It finished tenth in the 13-team league in the 2008-09 season.

Zhang's detention followed the arrest of the president of the Chengdu Blades, Xu Hongtao, early this month.

Xu and his deputy, You Kewei, was accused of bribing a Qingdao club official in 2007 to fix a match that helped Chengdu get promoted to the top flight.

About 22 football officials have been found connected to corruption in China's nationwide campaign against football gambling and match-fixing.