Former Everton player ‘sentenced to LIFE in prison’ for corruption and match-fixing after confessing to paying over £300,000 in bribes to get national team post

According to reports, former Everton player Li Tie was found guilty of corruption and given a life sentence in his home country of China. During the 2002–03 season, Li played 33 games for Everton while on loan from Chinese club Liaoning. After obtaining a permanent contract, he played seven games the following season.

The defensive midfield player, who broke his leg while playing for his country in February 2004, had a spell at Sheffield United before suffering from injuries. Li, 46, managed China’s national team from 2019 to 2021 after concluding his career there. Amidst a massive crackdown on corruption in football, the Chinese public prosecutor made a shocking revelation a year after Li resigned from that position, stating that he was’suspected of collecting and offering bribes’.

Li made a televised confession on state broadcaster CCTV, admitting that he accepted bribes totaling 3 million yuan (£330,000) in exchange for his position as national team coach. In addition, he said that he had participated in a match-fixing scam in order to advance with his club teams. Li apologized profusely. I ought to have maintained my eyes on the ground and made the proper decisions. There were some things that were standard football procedure at the time. According to writer and reporter Mark Dreyer, who is located in China, Li received a life sentence for his involvement in the affair.

The former head of the Chinese Football Association, Chen Xuyuan, has been given a 15-year sentence for bribery, Dreyer said. Li admitted to successfully fixing matches when coach of Hebei China Fortune and Wuhan Zall. The latter won promotion from China League One as champions in 2018.

He added in his televised statement: ‘By gaining ‘success’ through such improper means, it actually made me more and more impatient and eager for quick results. ‘In order to achieve good performance, I resorted to influencing referees, bribing opposing players and coaches, sometimes through clubs dealing with other clubs.

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