On January 12th, Beijing time, the official Chinese Xiangqi Association announced the results of the investigation into the Xiangqi Recording Scandal. A total of 41 players were severely punished for bribery, corruption, and buying/selling games. Among them, 37 were given bans of varying lengths, while 4 were publicly criticized. The most severe penalties were handed to Zhao XinXin, Wang Yang, and Zheng WeiTong, who, like Wang TianYi and Wang YueFei before them, received lifetime bans and had their technical titles revoked by the Chinese Xiangqi Association!
Among the list of those punished was Party Fei, which came as a surprise to netizens. Party Fei had previously reported the recording scandal under his real name, submitting a complete 90-minute version of the "Recording Scandal" file to the relevant departments. He expressed his willingness to fully cooperate with investigations and demanded a thorough investigation into the Xiangqi Recording Scandal. Now that the official results have been announced, Party Fei is also on the list of those punished, ultimately receiving a three-year ban.
The three-year ban on Party Fei has sparked heated discussion. After all, he had reported the scandal under his real name, demanding a thorough investigation, only to become one of those punished. Is this self-involvement or seeking punishment? Judging from Party Fei's statements at the time of his real-name report, it seems he genuinely wanted to change the corrupt practices in the xiangqi world. He said, "I want to report under my real name, exposing the many chaotic phenomena in the chess world related to the Xiangqi Recording Scandal. I demand a thorough investigation into the Xiangqi Recording Scandal to restore clarity to the xiangqi world and reveal the truth to hundreds of millions of chess fans!"
After the official announcement of the punishment results, Party Fei updated his personal social media to respond: "Accepting the punishment and criticism. No excuses, no justifications. And I do not regret the act of reporting. Looking forward to a better future for xiangqi."
Party Fei does not seem surprised by the result of the ban. From his response, he accepts the punishment calmly and states that he does not regret his actions. Even though he was involved in misconduct, he still chose to report under his real name. In this regard, Party Fei can be considered to have contributed to rectifying the chaos in the Chinese chess world. Although he was also banned, the outcome is beneficial for the Chinese xiangqi world. After all, 41 players involved in buying and selling games were caught, and the Chinese xiangqi world should return to normal, creating a healthier competitive environment for the new generation of players!
Now that the results of the Xiangqi Recording Scandal investigation have been released, and the players involved in misconduct have been punished accordingly, it is hoped that this will be a turning point for the Chinese xiangqi field. The new generation of players should take this as a warning and not disappoint the chess fans again!
