Today (December 11), the former deputy head of the preparatory group for the election of the Chinese Football Association, and former secretary general of the Chinese Football Association, Liu Yi, was sentenced to eleven years in prison for bribery. The sentencing of Liu Yi coincided with the convictions of Tan Hai, former head of the Referee Management Department of the Chinese Football Association, and Qi Jun, former head of the Strategic Planning Department, who were sentenced to six years and six months and seven years of imprisonment respectively.
The Xianning Intermediate People’s Court in Hubei Province announced the verdict on the morning of the 11th. Liu Yi was found guilty of bribery and sentenced to eleven years in prison, with a fine of 3.6 million yuan imposed. The ill-gotten gains from the bribery were ordered to be confiscated, with any shortfall to be further retrieved.
The Chinese football circle was rocked by a massive anti-corruption storm after Li Tie, the former head coach of the Chinese national men’s football team, was investigated for serious violations of the law in November 2022. Liu Yi was one of the key figures in the Li Tie case.
In August 2019, Liu Yi, who was serving as the Senior Vice President of Shanghai Weimei Cultural Development Co., Ltd., was elected as the secretary general of the Chinese Football Association, being hailed as the “first secretary general of the Football Association without background ties to the system.”
Following the anti-corruption storm that swept through Chinese football after the Li Tie case, the Chinese Football Association decided on January 15 of the following year to remove Liu Yi from his position as the secretary general of the Chinese Football Association.
Just four days later, on January 19, the Hubei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Liu Yi was under investigation for serious violations of the law.
Since the investigation into Li Tie, more than ten high-ranking officials, including Chen Xuyuan, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Chinese Football Association, and Du Zhaocai, former Vice Director of the National Sports Administration and former Secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Football Association, have been implicated.
In March of this year, the first trial for the Li Tie case took place. Li Tie admitted guilt and expressed remorse in court, with the sentencing set to be announced at a later date.