Gold medallist jailed for bribing his way to Asian Games

HONG KONG - Hong Kong bodybuilder Chan Yan-to has been jailed for 16 months after being found guilty of bribing his way into the 2006 Asian Games where he won gold, a news report said Wednesday.

Chan, 44, had been banned from competing for two years after failing a drug test the previous year.

However, he went on to victory in the men’s 75-kilogram event in Doha, Qatar, after conspiring to bribe an official at the Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation with 78,000 Hong Kong dollars (10,000 US dollars).

Chan appeared in court for sentencing Tuesday after being convicted last week of one count of conspiring with the former chairman of the Hong Kong China Bodybuilding and Fitness Association Simon Chan Siu-man to bribe a regional official to lift the ban on him and two other athletes.

Simon Chan, 40, was convicted of three counts of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, one count of conspiracy to defraud, and one count of fraud. He was was jailed for three years, said the report in the South China Morning Post.

The court heard that Simon Chan had also used athletes to claim subsidies fraudulently from the government.

Sentencing the two men, Judge Susana Maria D’Almada Remedios said the two had damaged the reputation of Hong Kong athletics and labelled Simon Chan as “greedy and shameless.”

“Corrupt offences are serious offences that warrant an immediate custodial sentence,” Remedios said.

The judgement will be reported to the Olympic Council of Asia which will decide whether to strip Chan of his medal.