Beijing (AFP) – The former coach of the Chinese national football team, Li Tai, who is detained on corruption charges, admitted that he paid nearly 400,000 euros to buy his position in January 2020, as part of a campaign led by Beijing to eliminate rampant corruption in the country.
Published on: 01/10/2024 – 10:31
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During the confessions broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV) during a documentary on Tuesday, Tai (46 years old) said that he contributed to fixing the results of some matches when he was a coach of a club.
He continued sheepishly, “I’m very sorry. I should have kept my head down and followed the right path. There are some things that were, at the time, common practices in football.”
Tai was appointed coach of the first team, succeeding the experienced Italian Marcello Lippi, in early 2020, when the former English Everton player (2002-2003) announced that he had achieved “one of the biggest dreams” in his life.
In order to assume the position of coach of the “Dragon” national team, he explained in the documentary that he asked the administrators of the Wuhan Zall Club, which was supervising his training at the time, to intervene on his behalf with the local football federation.
The coach promised his club to return the favor once he was appointed, so Wuhan paid 255,000 euros as a bribe to former FA president Chen Siuhan.
In return, Tai claimed that he gave $140,000 from his own pocket to the Secretary-General as well.
Shortly after his appointment, he recalled four players from Wuhan who, according to the club president who participated in the documentary, were not qualified to play “at this level.”
Tai failed to lead the “Dragon” to the World Cup finals in Qatar 2022, and was dismissed from his position in December 2021.
He also admitted that he had manipulated the results of matches that allowed teams from the second division to advance to the first division.
The national anti-corruption authorities launched an investigation against Tai at the end of 2022, which led to the resignation of about 10 senior officials in the local federation, including former president Siohan.
Siohan was accused of corruption last September, and he admitted in the documentary that he received large sums of money from players who wanted to gain his favor.
“I want to apologize to all football fans in China,” he said.
These prosecutions in the game are part of a larger anti-corruption campaign initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese government has high aspirations for the national team, which will participate in the Asian Cup finals from Friday until February 12, and is ranked 79th in the world.
© 2024 AFP
2024-01-10 09:31:05
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