The former coach of the Chinese national football team, Li Tie, has been sentenced to a long prison sentence in China. He was accused of corruption.
On Friday (December 3, 2024), the former Premier League professional was sentenced to 20 years in prison for various forms of corruption. From January 2020, Li served as national coach for almost two years. Li is said to have collected large sums of bribes from players – around 6.7 million euros, according to Chinese state television – in order to nominate them for the national team.
Coach admits offense in front of TV camera
He himself bribed club bosses in Chinese football to support his candidacy as national coach. The 47-year-old was also convicted of manipulating several games. He had previously made a confession in a TV documentary on state television. “I’m really sorry. I should have kept a cool head and taken the right path,” said Li: “Back then, things like that were common practice in football.”
Since taking office in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken rigorous action against corruption in the country – at the end of 2022, the authorities began to increasingly target Chinese sport. Numerous other former sports officials were also sentenced this week, including former football association head Chen Xuyuan.