Former Everton player and Chinese national team coach Li Tie received a 20-year prison sentence for bribery and match-fixing, according to Chinese state media reports from a Wuhan court on Friday.

Li accepted bribes totaling over 50 million yuan ($6.8 million) between 2019-2021 while managing China's national team. He manipulated player selections and match outcomes in exchange for payments. Additional charges included fixing games while coaching Chinese league clubs (2015-2019) and bribing officials to secure the national team coaching position.

As one of only five Chinese players to compete in the English Premier League, Li played as a defensive midfielder for Everton during the 2002-03 season alongside Wayne Rooney. He also made 92 appearances for China's national team.

In a state television documentary about soccer corruption, Li expressed remorse: "I'm very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path. There were certain things that at the time were common practices in football. Achieving success through such improper means actually made me increasingly shortsighted and eager for quick results."

The sentence comes amid China's broader crackdown on soccer corruption. In March 2023, former Chinese Football Association head Chen Xuyuan received a life sentence for accepting bribes. Later that year, authorities banned 43 players and officials for life and suspended 17 others for five years following a major investigation into gambling and match-fixing.

These developments pose a significant setback to President Xi Jinping's 2015 vision of transforming China into a soccer superpower. Currently, the national team ranks last in its World Cup qualifying group, with corruption being cited as a major obstacle to the sport's development in the country.

Related Articles

Previous Articles