Dec 13, 2024, 06:17 AM ET

Li Tie, who coached the Chinese men’s national team between 2020 and 2021, has been jailed for 20 years for bribery. Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images

The former coach of the Chinese men’s national football team has received a 20-year-prison sentence for bribery, Chinese state media reported on Friday.

Li Tie, who once played in the Premier League as a midfielder for Everton, was found guilty of “leveraging his positions” as head coach of the national football and national selection team to receive bribes of more than 50 million yuan (£5.4 million), by a court in the city of Xianning in the central Hubei province.

In exchange for bribes, the court said, Li would select certain individuals for the national team as well as help clubs win competitions and sign players.

Li coached the Chinese men’s team between January 2020 and December 2021. He was also charged with taking bribes between 2015 and 2019, when he worked for clubs Hebei China Fortune and Wuhan Zall.

The investigation into Li’s conduct began in November 2022 and he pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption in March of this year.

The 47-year-old apologised for his offences in an anti-corruption documentary aired by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV in January.

“I’m very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path,” Li said. “There were certain things that at the time were common practices in football.”

Li played in England for Everton from 2002 to 2006 and with Sheffield United from 2006 to 2008, making 34 appearances in the Premier League along the way.

His sentencing is the latest in a series of high-profile cases involving Chinese football, with President XI Jinping cracking down on corruption.

In March, the former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, was sentenced to life in prison for bribery. Earlier this week, three other CFA officials received prison sentences for bribery, according to state media.