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Former Everton midfielder Li Tie has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being booked for multiple offences, including match-fixing. The former China international, who played alongside Wayne Rooney at Goodison Park, was convicted of bribery and match-fixing among other violations.
Chinese state media CCTV reported that Tie has been found guilty of giving and receiving bribes worth £11.9 million between 2015 and 2021. According to The Independent, he had been under investigation since 2022 for "serious violations of the law".
It is also alleged that during his tenure as the manager of China, Tie picked certain players over others for bribes that totalled over 50 million yuan (£5.4 million). He even admitted to paying over £300,000 in bribes to be appointed as the national team's manager.
Besides bribery, the former Premier League man was also accused of fixing matches when he was coaching Chinese sides Hebei China Fortune and Wuhan Zall. He pleaded guilty to his involvement in all the aforementioned crimes.
In a documentary broadcasted by CCTV earlier in the year, Tie apologized for his actions. He said (via SportBible):
"I'm very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path. There were certain things that at the time were common practices in football."
The Chinese government have recently escalated their efforts to eradicate corruption from the country's footballing system. Besides Tie, almost a dozen officials of the Chinese Football Association have been investigated or charged with criminal offences.
Li Tie's time at Everton with Wayne Rooney
Tie shot to fame when he, along with Manchester City's Sun Jihai, became the first Chinese players to play in the Premier League. He initially joined Everton on loan for the 2002-03 season, making the move permanent at the end of the season.
Despite being at Goodison Park for four years, he only managed 40 appearances (30 of them alongside Rooney) for the Toffees due to a slew of injuries. He went on to play for Sheffield United before returning to his homeland in the twilight of his career.
One of the most successful players for the Chinese national side, he made 92 appearances for them, including all three of their games at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He also managed the national team between 2019 and 2021, a spell that has come under scrutiny amid his other offences.
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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava