Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal staff, and the investigation of over 30 national football association officials. It was a sensitive time for FIFA, who had been criticised in the European press for their handling of corruption accusations, which extended to FIFA President Sepp Blatter. The Nigeria Football Federation and West African Football Union leader Amos Adamu and the Oceania Football Confederation and Tahitian Football Federation President Reynald Temarii had been banned from football for requesting payments in kind in the run-up to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting bid vote. A BBC episode of Panorama had been featured showing various FIFA officials refusing to
China at the FIFA World Cup being purchased by citizens in order to watch their nation's first World Cup appearance. The team is colloquially referred to as "Team China" (中国队), the "National Team" (国家队) or "Guozu" (国足, lit. "national foot" also meaning national football). Eight players were fielded in all three of China's World Cup matches in 2002. China at the FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of "Fédération Internationale de Football Association" (FIFA), the