August 3 – Li Tie, the former head coach of China’s men’s national team who previously played in the English Premier League for Everton and Sheffield United, has been charged with several counts of suspected bribery.
Last November it was announced that the former midfielder, who played in the 2002 World Cup before serving as coach between January 2020 and December 2021, had been accused of “serious violations of the law” by state prosecutors. Formal charges have now been filed following an investigation in the central Chinese province of Hubei.
The move comes amid a widening crackdown on alleged corruption in Chinese football. In January, Chinese Football Association (CFA) executive deputy secretary general Chen Yongliang, and Liu Yi, its secretary general, were placed under investigation for suspected “severe violation of the law”.
And in May, South Korea international Son Jun-ho, who plays in China for Shandong Taishan, was arrested while trying to leave the country and detained on suspicion of accepting bribes.
A statement from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate – the country’s top agency overseeing prosecution – said: “Li Tie, the former head coach of the Chinese national men’s football team, was suspected of accepting bribes, offering bribes, offering bribes at the unit, accepting bribes of non-state employees, and offering bribes to non-state employees.”
One of the most famed Chinese footballers of his generation who won more than 90 caps, Li made headlines when he joined Everton from Liaoning FC in 2002.
He spent four years at Goodison Park, playing alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney and Duncan Ferguson. He then spent two further years in England with Sheffield United before returning to China with Chengdu Blades in 2008.
He took charge as the national team’s head coach in 2020 but stepped down during a failed qualifying campaign for last year’s World Cup.
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