Ex-Senior Education Official Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement and Bribery

A former senior education ministry official in charge of promoting youth soccer has pleaded guilty to embezzlement and bribery involving more than 50 million yuan ($7 million), as China’s sweeping corruption crackdown on the sport continues.

Wang Dengfeng, who headed the Ministry of Education’s department of physical, health and arts education before being put under a graft probe in August, stood trial Friday in Dezhou Intermediate People’s Court in East China’s Shandong province, where he was charged with the two offenses.