Former Everton star jailed for bribery after confessing match-fixing in corruption sting

Former Everton and Sheffield United midfielder Li Tie has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after confessing to bribery charges related to match fixing, according to the Chinese state media.

The former midfielder made 40 appearances for Everton across the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons, first on loan and then as a permanent signing, before leaving for Sheffield United in 2006. He made just a single League Cup appearance across two seasons at the South Yorkshire club.

After ending his career playing in China, Li went into coaching, managing Hebei China Fortune and Wuhan Zall before becoming manager of the Chinese national team in 2019. He departed the post in December 2021.

Li Tie sentenced to 20 years in prison in China

Li was placed under investigation in November 2022 for ‘serious violations of the law’, which were unspecified at the time.

In February this year, it was reported that Li had admitted to accepting over $16m (£12.6m) in bribes and fixing matches from 2016-21, as well as offering bribes of his own to secure the national team job. Li pleaded guilty to the charges in March.

Li has now been sentenced to 20 years in jail for the offences. Three other former officials from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) had also been jailed a few days earlier.

Former CFA president Chen Xuyuan was given a life sentence in March after pleading guilty to accepting bribes worth $11.2m (£8.9m).

Following Li’s sentencing, the BBC added that ‘more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated’ as part of the Chinese government’s anti-corruption crackdown.

Speaking on an anti-corruption documentary broadcast on Chinese state TV earlier this year, Li said: « 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. »

This is the second major campaign against corruption in Chinese football after a similar campaign in 2010 saw multiple officials, players and referees jailed.

One of Li’s former clubs, Chengdu Blades (then owned by Sheffield United, later known as Chengdu Tiancheng, and now dissolved), were demoted from the top flight in 2010 for match-fixing offences on their way to promotion in 2007.