The charges involving Li Tie have been announced! What do they all refer to?, 249 days after being investigated, Li Tie | reported | charges

After 249 days of investigation, there is finally new news from former head coach of the Chinese national football team, Li Tie.

According to the Hubei Provincial People's Procuratorate on the 2nd, Li Tie is suspected of bribery, bribery, bribery by units, bribery of non-state workers, and bribery of non-state workers. The investigation was completed by the Chibi City Supervision Committee and the Chibi City Public Security Bureau of Hubei Province, and he was transferred to the procuratorial organs for review and prosecution. Designated by the People's Procuratorate of Hubei Province, the case will be reviewed and prosecuted by the People's Procuratorate of Xianning City. Recently, the People's Procuratorate of Xianning City has filed a public prosecution with the Intermediate People's Court of Xianning City in accordance with the law.

Li Tie is implicated in multiple charges

What specific charges do Li Tie refer to, including bribery, bribery, bribery of units, bribery of non-state employees, and bribery of non-state employees?

Guo Kai, Senior Partner of Tianjin Guanxia Law Firm, stated that Li Tie's charges are all related to bribery and bribery crimes.

He explained that for bribery related crimes, based on Li Tie's identity at the time of accepting bribes, it constitutes the crime of accepting bribes and the crime of accepting bribes for non-state workers. For example, if Li Tie takes bribes while serving as the head coach of the Chinese national football team, his acceptance of bribes constitutes the crime of bribery due to his status as a national staff member.

Similarly, for bribery cases, based on the different objects of bribery, they constitute the crime of bribery and the crime of bribery of non-state employees.

In addition, the crime of bribery by a unit refers to the act of bribing individuals for personal reasons while also seeking improper benefits for the unit. The fact that Li Tie was prosecuted for bribery in his unit may be that he bribed relevant personnel in the club during his tenure.

Guo Kai stated that in cases of bribery and acceptance, the final outcome of punishment is closely related to the amount of crime committed. He analyzed that based on existing public information, it is impossible to estimate the possible sentence that Li Tie may face, but under the combined punishment of multiple crimes, the sentence should not be too short.

The anti-corruption storm is still ongoing

Li Tie's report of being investigated is seen as sparking a new round of anti-corruption in Chinese football.

In 1977, Li Tie was born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. During his time as a player, he played as a midfielder and played for English Premier League clubs such as Everton and Sheffield United. Li Tie was selected for the national team in 2001 and participated in the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan with the team.

In January 2020, Li Tie was appointed as the head coach of the Chinese national men's football team, and later submitted his resignation request to the Chinese Football Association at the end of 2021. In December of that year, the Chinese Football Association announced its approval of his resignation application.

Last November, Li Tie reported being investigated, becoming the first head coach of the Chinese national men's football team to be investigated.

For Chinese football, the "anti gambling and anti gang" storm that began in 2009 is an unavoidable page, and several senior members of the Chinese Football Association, including Nan Yong and Xie Yalong, were ultimately imprisoned.

The scope of the incident is extremely wide, and the depth of internal corruption and the darkness of the industry in Chinese football are shocking. However, this heavy blow has yet to bring new life to various fields of Chinese football.

More than ten years later, the storm will come again. From November 26, last year to July 22, this year, a total of 13 people in the football field reported being investigated during these 238 days, starting from Li Tie.

It is not difficult to find that the work areas and contents of these 13 people involve various aspects of Chinese football. Among them, more than one person is a witness to the previous round of anti gambling and anti gang work.

For example, after the arrest of former Vice Chairman of the Chinese Football Association, Nan Yong, Yu Hongchen once said, "This is the most profound warning education that has happened around us. The mistakes made by the top leaders of these industries are indeed heartbreaking. I hope to take this opportunity for every person in the football industry to deeply reflect and recognize their own shortcomings."

However, Yu Hongchen, who later also served as the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Football Association, failed to remember what he had said before.

Not only that, just half a month ago, the Intermediate People's Court of Dezhou City, Shandong Province, publicly held a first instance trial of the corruption and bribery case of Wang Dengfeng, former director of the Department of Sports, Health and Art Education of the Ministry of Education. The latter embezzled and took bribes exceeding 50 million yuan.

Wang Dengfeng once served as the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Football Association. Since 2015, he has served as the Director of the Office of the National Youth Campus Football Work Leading Group. Later, in June 2022, he became the Deputy Director of the Office of the Chinese Youth Football League Games.

All these things inevitably make people worried. The problem of Chinese football seems to have become so complicated that it is unclear where to start.

What is the future of Chinese football

Although it has not yet ended, this round of "anti-corruption storm" has gradually brought various dark aspects of Chinese football to the surface, from youth football, professional leagues to the national team level. To some extent, this explains why the performance of Chinese football has been slow to improve for many years, but has been constantly declining in the cycle of reincarnation.

In recent years, the Chinese men's football team has repeatedly suffered setbacks in their attempt to compete with the World Cup. The Chinese women's football team has gradually become unable to compete with top tier teams, and the results of various national level teams are lackluster. Professional leagues have repeatedly become social news due to negative aspects

In the green field, there are only a few games that bring great joy to fans, but it is not uncommon to see absurd dramas like "manipulating games" at the Guangdong Provincial Games.

Chinese football, which has stagnated or even continued to regress, is being pushed further and further away by opponents competing in the same field.

When the Chinese women's football team gave their all and still lost 1-6 to England in the World Cup, can we really attribute the disastrous defeat solely to on-site coordination or player performance, and leave the responsibility entirely on the head coach and the girls?

The answer is self-evident.

On May 19th of this year, Gao Zhidan, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the General Administration of Sport, pointed out at the National Football Education Rectification Mobilization and Deployment Meeting that the national football field should deeply learn from lessons through education rectification, learn from cases, promote reform through cases, fully implement the main responsibility, conscientiously implement supervision responsibility, cut off the chain of illegal interests, and promote "not daring to corrupt", "not being corrupt", and "not wanting to corrupt".

On May 23rd, Wang Ruilian, Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the General Administration of Sport, emphasized at the mobilization and deployment meeting for the education and rectification work of the Chinese Football Association that as a leading player in the industry, the Chinese Football Association is of utmost importance in the education and rectification of the national football field. It is necessary to deeply learn from lessons, learn from cases, promote reform through cases, purify the mind and team, and fully implement the "Overall Plan for the Reform and Development of Chinese Football", solidly promote football governance, step by step, do not waste efforts, and do not seek fame, and strive to gradually push Chinese football out of its slump and onto the right track.

I hope that after this anti-corruption storm, the Chinese football industry can usher in a good environment for down-to-earth cultivation and overcoming difficulties, which can enable football practitioners, especially high-level executives in the field, to take fewer chances and more practical actions.

Only in this way can Chinese football truly transform and see the rainbow after the rain.