China Sentences Former Premier League Player Li Tie to 20 Years for Corruption
China Sentences Former Premier League Player Li Tie to 20 Years for Corruption
- Li Tie, the former coach of China’s national football team sentenced 20 years
- The 47-year-old was sentenced on Friday in Hubei province
- Several other top football figures have also been sentenced, with terms ranging from 2.5 years to 14 years.
Li Tie, the former coach of China’s national football team and ex-Premier League player for Everton, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on bribery charges as part of China’s broad anti-corruption crackdown in sport.
The 47-year-old was sentenced on Friday in Hubei province after being convicted of multiple offenses related to bribery.
Between 2015 and 2021, a period that included his time as national coach, Li was found to have handled bribes totaling 120 million yuan (around $16.5 million).
Li had already pleaded guilty in March and previously confessed to arranging nearly $421,000 in bribes to secure his coaching position and fix matches in the Chinese Super League, which he revealed in a CCTV documentary aired earlier this year.
China’s anti-corruption campaign in football has been aggressive, with the country’s football federation also cracking down on officials. This year, former Chinese Football Association (CFA) chief Chen Xuyuan was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes exceeding 81 million yuan ($11 million).
Several other top football figures have also been sentenced, with terms ranging from 2.5 years to 14 years.
In September, the CFA banned 38 players and five club officials for life following a two-year investigation into match-fixing and gambling, which uncovered the fixing of 120 matches involving 41 football clubs.
China’s national football team has long struggled with poor performance, and local fans often attribute this to corruption within the sport.
