A Chinese court on Saturday sentenced two top former Football Association officials to more than a decade in jail, state media said, in a graft scandal that brought the football league to its knees.

Ex-deputy chief Yang Yimin and former top head referee Zhang Jianqiang were the first to learn their fate among 39 officials sentenced for their parts in the match-fixing and gambling scandal exposed two years ago.

Yang was convicted of accepting bribes worth 1.25 million yuan ($200,000) from about 20 clubs to fix fitness test results and sentenced to 10 and a half years, the state Xinhua news agency said.

“I have been reflecting on my problems these days. I should have been a good model in the leading position, but I’m not honest and clean,” Yang told Xinhua in the detention centre before his trial.

“My case has brought some negative effects on the cause of Chinese football. I want to apologise for the fans and the nation, and I’m willing to compensate for that in any way.”

Yang, who was also fined 200,000 yuan, told the court that he would not appeal.

“The punishment isn’t harsh,” said his attorney Wang Shujing, according to Xinhua.

“Yang took bribes as a government official and the harshest punishment for taking bribes as a public servant could be the death penalty.”

Zhang, the former director of the association’s referee committee, received a 12-year term for taking bribes worth a total of 2.73 million yuan on 24 occasions.

Zhang, who admitted taking bribes, was fined 250,000 yuan. He also told the court he would not appeal the sentence and fine.

Several club officials were also given lengthy terms, among them Wang Po, the former manager of a now defunct Tibetan side, who was sentenced to eight years for taking bribes and racketeering.

Former Qingdao Hailifeng president Du Yunqi was given eight years for racketeering and illegal detainment, while Wang Xin, ex-head coach of Liaoning Guangyuan, was sentenced to seven years and fined 3.35 million yuan for bribery and gambling.

Betting, match-fixing, crooked referees and poor performances by the national team have made football the laughing stock of increasingly indifferent Chinese fans, and a matter of state concern.

The jail terms come after four top referees – including China’s “Golden Whistle” Lu Jun, who officiated at the 2000 Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup – were given jail terms of up to seven years on Thursday.

The scandal also brought down top Chinese Football Association heads Nan Yong and his successor Xie Yalong.