Donovan Ewolo, a soccer striker from Cameroon, was among the 76 people banned in China in September over alleged participation in match-fixing. The athlete, who insisted he was innocent, claimed that the police had cleared him and allowed him to leave the country a day later.
The Player Was Suspected of Involvement in Match-Fixing
For context, Ewolo was banned on September 11 amid a huge match-fixing probe that saw dozens of players banned from competing in the country. Reflecting recent claims by an anonymous player, authorities believe that many soccer pros have been involved in gambling and fixing games for gambling profit.
The Cameroonian athlete had been playing in the Chinese Super League and China League One for several years. His ban related to violations he allegedly committed during his stint with Heilongjiang Ice City between 2020 and 2021.
While Ewolo denied any involvement in gambling, he admitted that he had received 50,000 yuan (approximately $7,000) bonus from the team captain following a victory over Chengdu Rongcheng. On a separate occasion, he was handed a bag of 20,000 yuan ($2,800).
Ewolo insisted that the money had come at a time when the soccer team had not paid its players for a few months. At that time, the team captain, Li Shuai had promised that winning is going to earn the team a big bonus. Ewolo explained that this was a big motivator, prompting him to give it his all.
He admitted that he didn’t question why it was the captain who gave him the money and not the club. Since the two were close at the time, Ewolo didn’t suspect foul play.
Ewolo Was Questioned and Cleared of Suspicion
Because of the aforementioned incident, Ewolo was handed a five-year ban from competing professionally in China.
As mentioned, Ewolo denied any intentional wrongdoing, saying he didn’t fix games and didn’t even know how to gamble in China. As a non-native, he could not read the language and knew that his online payments would be monitored.
The athlete was eventually interrogated by the police. After speaking for over two hours, the authorities decided against arresting him. They asked him about his relationship with Li and the questionable money transfers.
According to Ewolo, the police cleared him of wrongdoing, allowing him to exit China.
Ewolo departed Heilongjiang Ice City in 2021 after the team didn’t pay its players for several months. He is currently playing for Saudi First Division League club Al-Adalah.
