China Sentences Ex-EPL Soccer Star to 20 Years for Bribery, Match-Fixing

Li Tie, the former Everton player and coach of China’s national soccer team, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday by a court in Wuhan for bribery and match fixing, Chinese state media reports.

Prosecutors accused Li of receiving more than 50 million yuan (US$6.8 million) in bribes between 2019 and 2021 when he was in charge of the national team. In return, he would select certain players for the China squad and help certain teams to win competitions, according to state media.

He was also accused of fixing games for the two clubs he coached in Chinese leagues between 2015 and 2019 and of offering a bribe to gain the job as national team coach.

Premier League

Li Tie is one of just five Chinese nationals to have appeared in the English Premier League and one of just two who played regularly in a first team.

The defensive midfielder was part of an Everton side that included a young Wayne Rooney and finished seventh in the 2002-03 season. At international level, Li made 92 appearances for the China national team, scoring six goals.

In January, Li was featured in a documentary on Chinese state television about corruption in domestic soccer.

“‘m very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path,” he said, as translated by the BBC. “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,” he continued. “It became a habit, and eventually, I even started to rely on it.”

Xi’s Plan for Soccer

Chinese President Xi Jinping is a big soccer fan. In 2015, he pledged to turn China into a superpower of the sport that would one day lift the World Cup. But if anything, the national team has regressed since then, despite billions being poured into the sport.

Beijing blames widespread corruption – including Li’s alleged sale of international caps to the highest bidder – for holding back Chinese soccer.

In March 2023, Chen Xuyuan, the former head of China’s official soccer association, was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes.

In September, 43 professional players and officials were banned for life from the game and 17 more received five-year suspensions. That followed a two-year investigation that uncovered widespread online gambling, match fixing, and bribery, according to Chinese authorities.

The move came a week after China’s national team suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in its history, a 7-0 loss to Japan, one of its biggest sporting and geopolitical rivals.

The Chinese national team currently sits bottom of its World Cup qualifying group.

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