China’s former football head coach Li Tie under investigation for ‘serious violations of the law’
- Li Tie, 45, quit as head coach last December amid mounting criticism of the team’s performance in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers
- A provincial anti-corruption body in central China announcing the probe on Saturday does not specify his alleged offences
A statement posted on the website of a provincial anti-corruption body in central China on Saturday said Li was under investigation for “serious violations of the law”, but did not specify his alleged offences.
A disciplinary arm of the General Administration of Sport would also assist in the probe, the statement said.
Li, 45, quit last December amid mounting criticism of the team’s performance in their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, as China sought to reach the finals for the first time since their 2002 debut in Japan and South Korea.
China marks 20 years since reaching only World Cup as wait set to go on
Li then led the team to three wins in a row to have them qualify for final round of the Asian qualifiers.
He had earlier coached Chinese Super League teams Hebei China Fortune and Wuhan Zall, and was Lippi’s assistant coach for Guangzhou Evergrande and the Chinese national team.
As a talented football player, Li made his mark on the sport at a young age, becoming a China youth team captain more than two decades ago, following years of training in Brazil. He was also a key player for Liaoning FC in his hometown in northeastern China.
Li’s performance was on a par with that of foreign players in the Chinese league, still a rare feat in Chinese football.
When China showed interest in sending its best players overseas to prove their talent at the world’s top leagues, Merseyside team Everton signed Li for free in 2003. He soon became a household name in Goodison Park, Everton’s home ground.
Rumours circulating on the Chinese internet about two weeks before the Qatar World Cup kicked off said Li had been taken away for investigation. He was attending professional-level coaching training organised by the Chinese Football Association at the time.
It is not known if more people from the sports sector will be implicated in the current probe.
China proposes military-style training in bid to revive national football team
Announcement of the investigation into Li Tie has sparked fierce debate on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, with some users calling for a full-scale probe into corruption in Chinese football.
