National football ex-coach confesses in CCTV documentary

In a CCTV anti-corruption documentary broadcast on Tuesday, Li Tie, former head coach of China's national men's football team, confessed to his crimes, revealing details about his corrupt deeds.

Li admitted that he paid 3 million yuan (US$418,500) in bribes to become the national team coach, and that the promotions of two teams he coached in the lower division to the Chinese Super League were both achieved through match-fixing.

The former winger also said that he regretted his actions and that he would "walk on the straight and narrow" in the future.

In the 2018 season, Li lobbied Wuhan Zall FC to pay 2 million yuan in bribes to Chen Xuyuan, the former head of the Chinese Football Association, and 1 million yuan in bribes to Liu Yi, former CFA secretary-general, for the position of the national team's head coach.

The day after Li was confirmed as China's head coach, he signed a contract with Wuhan Zall FC for 60 million yuan, which was actually a cover for the corrupt deal. He then selected four players from the Wuhan club for the national team.

In November 2022, Li was placed under investigation by supervisory authorities. The probe led to the exposure of several other officials suspected of corruption and other wrongdoing in Chinese football.

Luo Chuan, a member of the Hubei Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, noted that the reason Li could become China's head coach was because he successfully led two clubs from the second division of the CFA to enter the top-tier CSL.

However, in reality, both times the promotion of Li's teams to the CSL involved a large number of fixed matches, according to Luo.

"When I was a player, I hated people who played fake football the most," Li claimed. "But I knew that these might be able to help our team increase our chances of promotion, I also had this kind of mentality of wanting to prove myself."

Apart from Li, Du Zhaocai, the former party secretary of the CFA, and Chen Xuyuan, former CFA chairman, were also sentenced to prison for corruption and confessed in the documentary.

At the end of the program, Li expressed his regrets, saying that "I should have been down-to-earth and gone on the right track."

The 46-year-old played for English Premier League side Everton between 2002 and 2006, and made more than 90 appearances for his country.

He took charge as the national team's head coach in 2020 but stepped down during a failed qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.