A former Everton player who played with Wayne Rooney has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Li Tie, who played 40 times for the Toffees and later turned out for Sheffield United, has received the sentence from a court in China.
The former China national manager has been found guilty of giving and receiving bibes of £11.9 million between 2015 and 2021, as reported by state media CCTV on Friday.
He had been placed on investigation in 2022 for “serious violations of the law”, as per The Independent.
It comes after the Chinese government intensified efforts stop corruption in Chinese football, with over a dozen officials of the Chinese Football Association investigated or charged.
In March, former China FA chief Chen Xuyuan was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes of over 81m yuan (£8.7 million).
Li is one of the most famous footballers to hail from China and represented his country on 92 occasions, including at the 2002 World Cup.
