Former Chinese national team star and head coach Li Tie has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for multiple counts of bribery, making him the biggest name yet to fall in China’s sweeping anti-corruption crackdown on its professional soccer league.
Li, 47, who played for English Premier League club Everton in the early 2000s, was sentenced by a court in Wuhan after prosecutors accused him of accepting over 50 million yuan (US$6.8 million) in bribes between 2019 and 2021 while serving as the national team’s head coach.
Prosecutors detailed that Li used these bribes to grant favors, ensuring specific players were selected for the national team and helping certain clubs win matches.
Furthermore, the court heard that Li himself arranged bribes totaling 3 million yuan (US$412,800) with the club he was coaching to secure his appointment as national head coach. He was also accused of fixing matches for the two Chinese league clubs he managed between 2015 and 2019.
Li was one of the first officials ensnared in the crackdown launched in 2022 after the national team’s disappointing World Cup elimination.
In a state documentary aired before his trial, a remorseful Li confessed that despite initially despising match-fixers, he became increasingly reliant on improper shortcuts for success, stating it “became a habit.” His sentencing follows that of former head of the Chinese soccer association, Chen Xuyuan, who received a life sentence for corruption in March.
