"I regret it very much" On the evening of January 9, Li Tie, the first head coach of the national men's football team to be investigated, appeared in the fourth episode of the TV special film "Continue to Promote In-depth Advancement", "Promoting the "Three Non-Corruptions" in One Piece".
Li Tie became the head coach of the Chinese men's national football team in January 2020, submitted his resignation in December 2021, and reported that he was investigated in November 2022.
According to the feature film, Li Tie was elected as the head coach of the national team thanks to his record of leading the team to the Chinese Super League twice, but the investigation found that these two times were through behind-the-scenes operation of match-fixing, and he also united the club to bribe a total of 3 million yuan to relevant personnel to seek the position of head coach of the national team. After being elected, he signed a 60 million contract to let four players "go through the back door" into the national team squad.
In addition to Li Tie, Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China and former secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Football Association, Chen Xuyuan, former chairman of the Chinese Football Association, and other "bigwigs" in football also appeared to confess. As of August 2023, 14 current and former officials of the Chinese Football Association have been dismissed.
The Chinese Football Association has seen 14 current and former officials dismissed. CCTV screenshot
led the team to play match-fixing twice and rushed into the Chinese Super League, and paid a bribe of 3 million to be elected as the head coach of the national football team
In 1977, Li Tie was born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. As a player, he played as a midfielder for Everton, Sheffield United and other Premier League clubs. Li Tie was selected for the national team in 2001 and participated in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. In January 2020, Li Tie became the head coach of the Chinese men's national football team, and later submitted his resignation to the Chinese Football Association at the end of 2021. In November 2022, Li Tie reported that he was investigated, becoming the first head coach of the Chinese national men's football team to be investigated.
Luo Yu, a staff member of the Hubei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, said in the feature film that the reason why Li Tie was able to become the head coach of the national team was because he led two Chinese A teams to successfully enter the Chinese Super League, but in fact, Li Tie led the team to the Chinese Super League twice, and there were a lot of match-fixing behind it.
Li Tie appeared on camera to repent. CCTV screenshot
According to the feature film, Li Tie joined Hebei Huaxia Happiness Club in August 2015 and served as the head coach for the first time. At that time, there were only 9 games left in the season, and Huaxia Happiness was only ranked 6th, and the prospect of surpassing was not optimistic. After Li Tie took office, he played a magical "eight consecutive wins" in the last eight games of the season, which made Huaxia Happiness finally lead its competitors by one point and surpass success.
After investigation, the so-called "super-miracle" is completely manipulated behind the back by the hand of money. The club bluntly proposed to Li Tie, hoping that he would use his connections to buy his opponents. For example, in the last game of the season, Huaxia Fortune must win or draw to ensure that it can surpass, and the club has spent a lot of money on it. At the same time, for the sake of multiple insurances, Li Tie's coaching team is responsible for directly buying the opposing players from the individual level. Li Tie instructed assistant coach Zheng Bin to contact Li Fei, the main defender of Shenzhen Yuheng. Li Fei offered 6 million yuan, saying that he would help them "play" a number of key players, but in fact, he swallowed the money alone.
The former assistant coach of Li Tie's team said that in fact, you can win by playing normally. "Achieving 'success' in this improper way will actually make you more and more eager to achieve quick results, in order to achieve results, find referees to do work, buy other players, coaches, and some clubs find clubs, this way has become a Xi, and even a little bit of dependence later." Li Tie said to the camera.
In 2017, when Li Tie was hired as the head coach of Wuhan Zall Club, he began to take the initiative to promote match-fixing to the club. On October 6, 2018, Wuhan Zall successfully overtook three rounds ahead of schedule. In August 2019, Li Tie learned that the Chinese Football Association was going to form a men's national selection team to participate in the East Asian Cup, and he targeted the position of head coach of the national team, lobbying Zall Club to take out 2 million yuan to help him bribe Chen Xuyuan, and paid 1 million yuan out of his own pocket to Liu Yi, the then secretary general of the Football Association.
In January 2020, Li Tie became the head coach of the men's football national selection team, and the day after he was elected, he flew to Wuhan and signed a "contract" with Zall Club for a total of 60 million yuan, and selected four players of the Zall team into the national team squad. In fact, the contract is only used as a cover to cover up the essence of the power-for-money transaction. "I know the ability of our players, and none of them can enter," said Tian Xudong, the former chairman of Wuhan Zall Club.
At that time, Wuhan Zall Club Weibo announced that four players were selected for the national team.
Many parties are keen on short-term interests and ignore investment in youth training. Many insiders know that the miracle of Li Tie leading the men's national football team to the World Cup is impossible to happen. On December 3, 2021, Li Tie "quit class" amid the scolding of fans.
"I regret it very much. It is still necessary to be down-to-earth, but also to take the right path, not to rush for quick success, and not to do everything possible to take shortcuts. Li Tie said.
Chen Xuyuan and Du Zhaocai respectively accepted tens of millions of yuan in property, and 14 people from the Chinese Football Association have been dismissed
Li Tie was investigated by the supervisory authorities, which started the anti-corruption campaign in football that lasted for more than a year, and became the hottest topic in Chinese football in 2023. By August 30, 2023, Liu Jun, the former chairman of the Chinese Super League, was officially announced to be involved in the case, and 14 current and former officials of the Chinese Football Association have been dismissed. Among them are Chen Xuyuan, former chairman of the Chinese Football Association, and Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports.
Chen Xuyuan appeared on camera to confess. CCTV screenshot
According to the feature film, Chen Xuyuan was elected as the sixth chairman of the Chinese Football Association on August 22, 2019, and the night before he was elected, two heads of local football associations knocked on his door one after another, and each gave 300,000 yuan to "worship the pier". In the past few years, he has accepted tens of millions of yuan from many football clubs, and used his power to help clubs seek improper benefits in many aspects such as relegation, access, referee penalties, and match schedules.
Du Zhaocai appeared on camera to repent. CCTV screenshot
Also used for public and private purposes is Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports and former secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Football Association. According to the feature film, Du Zhaocai accepted tens of millions of yuan in property and let the chaos in the football world go unchecked. In 2022, there were clues that some matches in the Chinese League were suspected of match-fixing and gambling, and after receiving the relevant clues, the State General Administration of Sports asked Du Zhaocai to take the lead in investigating and dealing with it, but Du Zhaocai used "research" to perfunctory.
Cui Haifei, a second-level inspector of the 16th Review and Investigation Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission, said that Du Zhaocai did not find any problems and did not deal with anyone, but only made an investigation report. He should have led the Party Committee of the Chinese Football Association to shoulder the main responsibility of Chinese football in a comprehensive and strict manner, but he did not dare to grasp and manage, which also led to serious corruption in the field of Chinese football and the deterioration of the industry ecology to a certain extent.
Du Zhaocai analyzed in the feature film: "I did not play a good role as a 'goalkeeper' in the anti-corruption struggle of Chinese football, and in the 'hunting' of the interests of the club owner, it was actually a subjective reason, and it was not strictly controlled, and some went with the flow." ”
In 2015, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Overall Plan for the Reform and Development of Chinese Football", emphasizing the need to focus on the long-term and lay a solid foundation. Du Zhaocai and Chen Xuyuan, as the heads of the Football Association, should have implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and promoted reform as the first priority, however, they both felt that the reform was difficult and slow.
Yan Weiyao, director of the Second Supervision and Inspection Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission, said that the investigation and handling of a series of football corruption cases is not only to investigate and punish a few people, but more importantly, to promote the change of the ecology of the football field through the investigation and handling of this case, and to promote the sports department to learn lessons, deepen reforms, improve the system, clean up the source, and return the green field to a clear ecology.
Written by: Nandu reporter Guo Ruomei from Beijing