Chinese football legend Li Tie loses his appeal against corruption sentence
A court in China on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by Li Tie, the former footballer and coach, against his 20-year prison sentence for corruption.
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The high court in Hubei province rejected the appeal and upheld the original sentence for the former head coach of the men's national team.
Li, who formerly played in midfield for Everton in the English Premier League and represented China in the 2002 World Cup, had lodged an appeal 10 days after being sentenced on December 13.
He had been convicted of taking more than 110 million yuan (US$15.1 million) in bribes between 2015 and 2021, having pleaded guilty to the charges in a trial in March last year.
An intermediate court in Hubei had handed down the original sentence, which was one of the heaviest penalties imposed in the nationwide clampdown on the sporting sector.
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