Former Everton midfielder Li Tie has confessed to being involved in match-fixing following an investigation by the Chinese government into corruption in Chinese football.
Li, 46, who was head coach of the Chinese national team between October 2019 and December 2021, admitted to arranging nearly $421,000 (£330,954) in bribes to bag the position of the head coach and secure the head coach position and took part in fixing matches during his tenure as a club coach.
Li told China Central Television (CCTV): “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.
“By gaining 'success' through such improper means, it actually made me more and more impatient and eager for quick results.
"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.”
» Read the full article at Liverpool Echo
Reader Comments (8)
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2 Posted 11/01/2024 at 12:20:49
This is a country where Xi (Winnie the Pooh) Jinping had one of his predecessors forcibly removed from the stage during the annual conference. throw in the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and I am not sure what I believe the Chinese media say.
Of course he could be guilty but I more than a bit dubious.
3 Posted 11/01/2024 at 12:23:57
I lived in China – both Wuhan and Shanghai, and Hong Kong before that when the Umbrella Revolution was happening.
One thing that I learned is anything that comes out of China, through any official channel, should not be believed, or certainly heavily doubted, even when based on truth.
4 Posted 11/01/2024 at 16:30:52
5 Posted 12/01/2024 at 17:31:15
If you can spare near £400,000 in bribes, how much have you got in the bank? God knows what goes on in the currupt world of sport (look what happened to us) – and it's mostly down to money.
6 Posted 12/01/2024 at 17:49:00
Where were you in those cities? My wife's family is from Wuhan, so I've spent big chunks of time there (including when Li was manager of Wuhan Zall), and I did some business in Shanghai and lived briefly in the Jing An district.
7 Posted 13/01/2024 at 10:50:20
I seem to remember having a conversation about this a number of years ago. I was in Jiang Xia in Wuhan and then spent my time in Shanghai mostly in Jing'an - just overlooking the older main Shanghai station. My job at the time - the one when I was based in Shanghai, took me all over China, from Heifei, to Qingdao to a number of other cities. I got to see quite a bit of China, albeit from 5 star hotels (5 star China style though)
With regards to Li Tie - he probably didn't grease the hand of the correct CCP official.
8 Posted 15/01/2024 at 07:29:04
We didn't get pissed/up Thai players when Chang sponsored us, or sporting heroes of the Internet when online sponsors moved in.
Li Tie was a poster boy for China then, wasn't he, 'The David Beckham' of China I recall him being described as by the Club on the official site. Quite a come down indeed.
If innocent, I hope he can get himself extricated from this mess and not end up in the clink, but looks unlikely currently, from the statements released, doesn't it?
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1 Posted 11/01/2024 at 12:02:22