The former Chinese national soccer team coach has made a televised confession in which he admitted to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to secure the top job, as well as involvement in match-fixing.
Chinese soccer has been in the grip of a major anti-corruption campaign that has seen numerous leading figures investigated or charged.
Li Tie, a former Everton midfielder who served as the national team’s head coach, was placed under investigation in 2022, accused by authorities of “serious violations of the law.”
Photo: AFP
No detailed information on the case has been available until his confession on Tuesday night, part of an anti-graft documentary aired on state broadcaster China Central Television.
In the program, Li said he had arranged nearly US$421,000 in bribes to secure the head coach position — and to have helped fix matches when he was a club coach.
“I’m very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path,” the 46-year-old said.
“There were certain things that at the time were common practices in football,” he added.
When he took the national coach job in January 2020, Li said he had achieved one of his “biggest dreams.”
However, Tuesday’s documentary painted a less wholesome picture. It said Li had asked Wuhan Zall Football Club — where he then worked as coach — to intervene on his behalf with the Chinese Football Association (CFA), promising to return the favor.
The club paid 2 million yuan (US$281,4530 at the current exchange rate) in bribes to Chen Xuyuan, then president of the CFA and now also subject to a corruption investigation.
Li also said he gave 1 million yuan from his own pocket to the secretary-general of the CFA.
Following his appointment, four Wuhan Zall players were appointed to the national team — players who were not qualified to play “at that level,” said the club president, who was interviewed in the documentary.
China eventually failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, leading to Li quitting in 2021.
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