(FILES) China’s coach Li Tie seems on forward of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian Qualifiers soccer match between China and Oman, on the Sharjah Soccer Stadium within the Emirati metropolis, on November 11, 2021. (Photograph by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)
BEIJING — The previous coach of the Chinese language males’s nationwide soccer crew has obtained a 20-year-prison sentence for bribery, Chinese language state media reported Friday.
Li Tie, who as soon as performed within the English Premier League as a midfielder for Everton, was discovered responsible of “leveraging his positions” as head coach of the nationwide soccer and nationwide choice crew to obtain bribes of greater than 50 million yuan (about $7 million), by a courtroom within the metropolis of Xianning within the central Hubei province.
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Li coached the Chinese language males’s crew between January 2020 and December 2021. He was additionally charged with taking bribes between 2015 to 2019, when he labored for native soccer golf equipment.
The investigation into Li’s conduct started in November 2022. He pleaded responsible to bribery and corruption in March of this yr.
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Li performed in England for Everton from 2002 to 2006 and with Sheffield United from 2006-2008.
His sentencing is the newest in a collection of high-profile corruption circumstances involving Chinese language soccer.
In March, the previous president of the Chinese language Soccer Affiliation (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, was sentenced to life in jail for bribery. Earlier this week, three different CFA officers obtained jail sentences for bribery, based on state media.