China sentences former sports chief to death in corruption case

A Chinese court has handed a death sentence with a two-year reprieve to Gou Zhongwen, the former head of the General Administration of Sport, the government body that oversees traditional sports and esports, after finding him guilty of large-scale bribery and abuse of power.

According to China Daily, the Yancheng Intermediate People’s Court ruled that Gou accepted more than 236 million yuan (about 33.4 million dollars) in bribes between 2009 and 2024.

Judges said he used his senior government roles to secure benefits for individuals and departments through project approvals and business operations, calling the scale of corruption “extremely large” and the social impact “extremely negative.”

The 68-year-old was also stripped of his political rights for life and had all personal assets seized.

Former Chinese esports official sentenced to death

The court separately sentenced Gou to five years in prison for abusing his authority during his time as a Beijing vice-mayor from 2012 to 2013. Officials said his actions during the acquisition of a related public project caused significant state losses.

All penalties were combined into a suspended death sentence. In China, such sentences are typically commuted to life imprisonment if the defendant commits no further crimes within the two-year period.

But, due to the severity of his actions, the court ruled that Gou will not be eligible for parole or sentence reductions, meaning he will spend the rest of his life in prison once the death sentence is formally reduced.

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The ruling acknowledged that Gou confessed, voluntarily disclosed additional bribery not yet uncovered by investigators, and returned illicit gains, but said these factors were not enough to outweigh the gravity of his offenses.

Gou previously served as president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and played a major leadership role in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. His involvement in esports came through the General Administration of Sport, which officially recognized esports as China’s 99th sport.

However, his stance toward gaming and competitive esports was widely viewed as unsupportive. As The Esports Advocate notes, Gou was not considered an advocate for the industry even as esports exploded in popularity across China.

The country’s toughest-ever gaming restrictions arrived in 2021 when the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), a separate regulator that controls game approvals, limited under-18 players to just three hours of gaming weekly. Because all pro players in China must be registered athletes, the rule effectively barred minors from entering esports, unlike traditional sports where no such age caps exist.

The General Administration of Sport could have pushed back or carved out esports-specific exceptions, but that never happened under Gou’s leadership.