On Monday, a new layer was added to the story of possible corruption within the federation when it emerged that Vice President Xia Xuanze—who also serves as the national coach responsible for the singles category—is being investigated by Chinese authorities.
The General Administration of Sport of China announced that Xuanze and Wang Wei, the association’s former vice president and secretary-general, are under investigation for suspected serious violations of the law.
47-year-old Xia Xuanze, who became the men's singles world champion in 2003 and is considered one of the greatest Chinese players of all time, is reportedly under investigation for corruption and/or abuse of power.
The 48-year-old Xuanze was the 2003 world champion, and he also won bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics before moving into coaching and administration.
He started coaching after his retirement in 2007, becoming the singles head coach and also the CBA vice-president in 2018.
The news comes in the wake of Zhang Jun, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and president of the Chinese Badminton Association, being put under investigation by anti-corruption authorities.
Zhang's continued absence from public events initially sparked widespread speculation before it was officially confirmed that a probe into alleged serious violations of discipline and law had been made.