Disgraced former Everton star admits match-fixing and bribing football officials

11 January 2024 , 10:38

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Li Tie joins Everton team-mates in celebration during a 2002 win at West Ham (Image: PA)

Former Everton midfielder Li Tie has confessed to match-fixing in China as well as paying bribes to secure the job as manager of the national team.

Li spent five years playing in England, three of those at Goodison Park before he moved to Sheffield United. He returned to his homeland and has gone into coaching, which eventually saw him take the country's top job for two years from 2019.

He was placed under investigation in 2022, accused by authorities of "serious violations of the law" as Chinese football attempts to get to grip with corruption via a major anti-corruption campaign, which has seen several leading figures charged.

Li made his confession whilst appearing on state broadcaster CCTV and admitted to giving out £330,000 in bribes to secure the head coaching position. He also assisted in a match fixing scandal whilst he was a club coach.

The 46-year-old said: "I'm very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path." He also added: "There were certain things that at the time were common practices in football."

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Li claimed, when he became the boss of the Chinese nation side, that he had achieved one of his "biggest dreams". Now it has come out that Li had asked Wuhan Zall Football Club - where he then worked as coach - to intervene on his behalf with the Chinese Football Association, promising to return the favour.

The 48-year-old admitted after successfully rigging matches at Hebei China Fortune that he continued to promote match-fixing when he became the head coach of Wuhan Zall Football Club in 2017. He said: "By gaining 'success' through such improper means, it actually made me more and more impatient and eager for quick results.

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"In order to achieve good performance, I resorted to influencing referees, bribing opposing players and coaches, sometimes through clubs dealing with other clubs. This behaviour becomes a habit, and eventually, there is even a slight dependence on these practices."

The former CFA (Chinese Football Association) chair Chen Xuyuan, who has also been charged with bribery, has said: "Soccer fans can tolerate the backwardness of Chinese soccer, but not corruption. There’s no remedy for bygones. If there’s one, I’m willing to pay for that with my life."

Samuel Meade