Wayne Rooney’s ex-Premier League teammate sentenced to 20 years for bribery

13 December 2024 , 22:26

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Wayne Rooney’s ex-Premier League teammate sentenced to 20 years for bribery

Former Everton player and China manager Li Tie will spend the next 20 years behind bars after landing a hefty sentence for giving and receiving bribes throughout his career

Former Everton midfielder Li Tie has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after giving and receiving bribes during his football career.

Li, 47, spent four years on the books at Goodison Park during his playing days where he featured alongside Wayne Rooney before later moving into management, including a role with the China national team.

However, it has now emerged that Li committed bribery during his career, including the fixing of matches. He pleaded guilty to giving and taking more than £12.6million in bribes back earlier this year after an investigation into his conduct between 2016 and 2021 was launched by the Communist Party.

Li will now spend a significant period behind bars as a result of said bribes after being sentenced by a Chinese court.

Speaking in a documentary which was aired in China, Li said previously: "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."

It’s claimed that Li even offered a bribe to secure his role with China national team, where he spent almost two years at the helm before resigning in December 2021. 

As a player, Li won 92 caps for the national team and was part of the only China team to ever play at a World Cup back in 2002. He played more than 30 times for Everton after moving to the Premier League back in 2002.

Li is the latest high-profile sports person to be convicted following Chinese president Xi Jinping’s bid to clean up Chinese football amid concerns of corruption.

Chen Xuyuan, a former president of the Chinese Football Association, was sentenced to life in prison for bribery back in March after his conduct was investigated. He is said to have received around £8.9m in bribes.

Sophia Martinez