Former Chinese men's football head coach Li Tie jailed for bribery

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

Former Chinese men's football head coach Li Tie has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery, state media reported Friday.

The former midfielder with English Premier League side Everton reportedly acknowledged earlier this year that he was mixed up in fixing matches and accepting bribes.

Earlier this week several officials from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) were jailed for bribery as well.

Tie become one of the major names to suffer a fall as a result of Chinese President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, along with Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the General Administration of Sport of China and former CFA party secretary, who on Friday was announced to have been sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined 4 million yuan ($550,000).

Tie, 47, scored five goals in 92 appearances for China as a player.