Former Chinese National Football Coach Receives Prison Sentence for Bribery

State media has reported that the former head coach of China’s national men’s football team has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for bribery. Li Tie, who also played for Everton in the English Premier League, confessed earlier this year to engaging in match-fixing, accepting bribes, and offering bribes to secure the top coaching position. This case illustrates the extent to which President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has impacted sectors such as sports, banking, and the military. Earlier this week, three former officials from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) also received prison sentences for bribery. Investigations have been conducted into more than a dozen coaches and players. Li, who served as the national team’s head coach from January 2020 to December 2021, admitted guilt in March to taking over $16 million in bribes. The court stated that these activities occurred from 2015, during his tenure as an assistant coach at the Hebei China Fortune Club, until 2021, when he resigned as the national coach. In return for these bribes, Li would select specific individuals for the national team and assist football clubs in winning competitions. The 47-year-old appeared in an anti-corruption documentary broadcast by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV earlier this year, where he expressed regret for his transgressions. “I’m very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path,” he said. “There were certain things that at the time were common practices in football.” Li played 92 matches for China and participated in the 2002 World Cup, which remains the nation’s sole appearance in the finals to date. Chen Xuyuan, Li’s former superior and the former president of the CFA, received a life sentence earlier this year for accepting bribes totaling $11 million. President Xi had previously expressed his aspiration for China to become a significant force in football. In 2011, he articulated his “three wishes” for Chinese football: re-qualification for the World Cup, hosting the tournament, and ultimately winning the trophy. However, the recent arrests and convictions of prominent football personalities, including some officials assigned to spearhead the football revolution, have presented another obstacle to the nation’s football ambitions. This current anti-corruption drive is reminiscent of a previous crackdown within Chinese football in 2010, during which several officials, national team players, and referees were imprisoned for corruption. That initiative was also spearheaded by Xi, who at the time served as China’s vice-president. Rowan Simons, author of the book Bamboo Goalposts, which details his long-term endeavors to foster grassroots football in China, informed BBC Chinese earlier this year: “In many ways, [the current campaign] looks exactly the same as it was 10 years ago with a different set of characters. “How is it different? There’s much more money involved.” Additional reporting was provided by Zhijie Shao in Hong Kong.