What’s new: Li Tie, former head coach of China’s national men’s soccer team, pleaded guilty on five bribery charges involving a total of 110 million yuan ($15 million) during a Thursday hearing of his case, a court in central China’s Hubei province said.
Li, 47, faces charges including accepting bribes, giving bribes, organizational bribery, accepting bribes as a non-state employee, and giving bribes to non-state employees, aimed at manipulating player selections and match outcomes, according to the Intermediate People's Court in Xianning.
The veteran star midfielder served as head coach of China’s national men’s soccer team between 2019 and 2021. During the period, he took advantage of his position to offer favors to organizations and individuals in matters such as player selection for the national team, winning matches, and signing with clubs, illegally accepting a total of over 50. 9 million yuan, prosecutors said.
In 2019, Li paid a total of 3 million yuan to get the head coach role, of which 2 million yuan went to then officials of the Chinese Football Association (CFA).
Li was also accused of accepting bribes and giving bribes during his tenure as head coach of Hebei Fortune Football Club and Wuhan Zall FC between 2015 and 2019.
Li admitted guilt during the hearing. A sentencing will be announced at a later date, said the court.
The context: Li’s fall was the tip of the iceberg that exposed rampant corruption within the nation’s soccer arena, a sport that has a wide following in the country, but also a history of disappointing performances by the national team. A wider crackdown on corruption in the sport has brought down a dozen senior officials and coaches since 2022.
In early March, Chen Xuyuan, former president of the CFA, was sentenced to life in prison for accepting more than 81 million yuan in bribes. Wang Dengfeng, a former senior education ministry official in charge of promoting youth soccer in China, pleaded guilty to embezzlement and bribery involving more than 50 million yuan ($7 million) in July 2023.
Li came under investigation for graft in November 2022 and was officially charged with bribery-related crimes in August 2023.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
