On December 13, 2024, former head coach of the Chinese national men’s football team, Li Tie, was sentenced to twenty years in prison for accepting bribes totaling over 50 million yuan (RMB).
Li Tie was convicted of bribery, bribery on behalf of a unit, bribery of non-state functionaries, as well as offering bribes, during his time serving as the head coach of the Chinese national men’s football team and the national selection team. He illegally received over 50.89 million yuan between 2019 and 2021 in exchange for helping individuals and entities with player selections, match outcomes, and club contracts.
In 2019, Li Tie, seeking to become the head coach of the national team, requested assistance from others and later gave 1 million yuan to someone in 2020.
During his tenure at Wuhan Zall Professional Football Club in 2019, Li Tie colluded with club officials to enhance his chances of being selected as the head coach of the national team. The club provided 2 million yuan to facilitate this arrangement.
From 2017 to 2019, Li Tie, while working at Hebei China Fortune Football Club, facilitated player transfers and match outcomes in exchange for a total of 26.75 million yuan in bribes from the club.
Between 2015 and 2019, while employed at both Hebei China Fortune and Wuhan Zall clubs, Li Tie coordinated with club officials to influence match results by soliciting and receiving a total of over 39.05 million yuan from these clubs.
Li Tie, born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province in 1977, is a former professional football player and the former head coach of the Chinese national men’s football team.
In November 2022, Li Tie came under investigation for serious violations of law.
In August 2023, Li Tie was formally charged with bribery and corruption-related offenses.
In March 2024, the Xianning Intermediate People’s Court in Hubei Province held the first trial for Li Tie’s case, where he admitted guilt. The court postponed the sentencing.
Li Tie’s investigation caused a significant backlash in Chinese football, leading to the downfall of several high-ranking officials within the Chinese Football Association system.
A recent state-sponsored anti-corruption documentary exposed corruption within the sports sector, implicating former officials such as Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the General Administration of Sport of China, former CFA party secretary Chen Xuyuan, and Li Tie in a series of football-related corruption cases.
The documentary disclosed that Li Tie sought the national team head coach position by assisting Wuhan Zall club with a bribe of 2 million yuan to Chen Xuyuan and personally giving 1 million yuan to the then CFA secretary-general Liu Yi.
After successfully securing the position of head coach of the national selection team upon Marcello Lippi’s resignation, Li Tie quickly signed a dubious “contract” with Wuhan Zall club for 60 million yuan and subsequently included four Zall players in the national team roster.
In August 2015, Li Tie joined Hebei China Fortune club as head coach, leading the team to promotion with an impressive eight-game winning streak at the end of the season, which was allegedly facilitated by significant financial investments from the club.
According to former chairman of Hebei China Fortune, Meng Jing, “In the final game, we roughly spent 14 million yuan, where we informed Shenzhen club, the head coach, and players.”