A CHINESE volleyball official and Chinese women’s team head coach have apologized for a World Championship scandal in which they ordered the former world champion team to throw matches so they would face easy rivals in the following rounds.

　　In a joint letter of apology in yesterday’s China Sports Daily, Xu Li, chef-de-mission of China’s delegation and director of the Chinese Volleyball Administration, and head coach Chen Zhonghe, said they had made very serious mistakes in doing so in Germany early September.

　　“We had no respect at all for other teams, referees and our supporters by purposely taking it easy in matches,” said the letter.

　　“As delegation chief and head coach, we shall take full responsibility for the tarnished image of the Chinese women’s volleyball team,” it added.

　　Yuan Weimin, director of the State Sports General Administration, blasted the Chinese team last week saying it was against sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit.

　　As a title favorite, China deliberately lost to Greece and South Korea and finally finished fourth.

　　“You would still have been criticized if you had won the championship by unsportsmanslike means,” Li Furong, vice director of the administration, lashed at Chen.(Xinhua)