Former Chinese National Team Coach Confesses to Match-Fixing and Bribery

Li Tie, the former coach of the Chinese national football team, has come clean about his involvement in match-fixing, and said that he paid a bribe to get the job as the national coach. He made the confession in a local anti-corruption documentary that exposes corruption in the sport.

The 46-year-old Li Tie said that he paid a 3 million yuan ($418,000) bribe in 2018 to get the job as the national team coach.

He also said he helped two lower-league clubs cheat their way to the top division, the Chinese Super League. And they both made it.

Li Tie was the interim coach of the national team in 2019, and then the permanent coach from 2020 to 2021. He was fired after he failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In November 2022, he was investigated for corruption.

The ex-coach expressed regret and apologized for his actions in the documentary. By the way, he was not the only one in the hot seat. Two former officials from the Chinese Football Association also appeared in the documentary, facing similar charges. They were caught during the probe into Li Tie’s case and could all end up in jail.