With the Beijing Olympics looming and China's image at stake, their hostile and sometimes abusive soccer fans have been told to shut up.
Organizers of the East Asian championships issued a public notice before the tournament banning unruly behavior, and the message was reinforced ahead of their game against Japan on Wednesday.
Some 3,000 security guards were reportedly on hand and eight green military-type trucks were seen near the main gate of the 60,000-seat Olympic Sports Center in Chongqing, which was heavily bombed by Japan in World War II.
PHOTO: AP
It followed Chinese spectators, still angry at their neighbor's World War II aggression, persistently booing, jeering and throwing rubbish at three-time Asian champions Japan on Sunday when they played North Korea.
They did the same at the 2004 Asian Cup in China, hurling cups and plastic bottles at Japanese supporters.
The 2004 event almost ended in a riot after Japan beat China in the final and a Japanese diplomat's car was attacked.
PHOTO: AP
Ahead of Wednesday's match, which Japan won 1-0, local media carried articles saying true soccer fans respect their opponents, according to a Chinese journalist.
At the stadium, officials used the public address system called on the crowd to "refrain from using abusive language."
Chinese supporters largely adhered to the warnings and did not boo the Japanese national anthem, although some were seen lighting smoke flares and burning small Japanese flags.
Instead they turned their wrath on their own underachieving team, with tempers flaring towards the end of the game as the crowd booed and chanted "fire him," directed at China Football Association (CFA) chief Xie Yalong.
They also threw plastic bottles on the pitch as Koji Yamase's early strike proved decisive for China's second-straight defeat.
Chinese newspapers expressed dismay at the latest failure of the national side, also blaming the CFA.
"China loses to Japan: Why?" asked the mass-circulation Beijing Morning Post in its main headline
"Chinese football has deteriorated over the past 10 years. Why? The China Football Association can't shrug off the blame. Only it can answer this `why?' Give us an explanation," the paper said.
The Star Daily, a Beijing tabloid, said: "To be honest, there is nothing surprising about losing to Japan. It would have been a real surprise if we had beaten them instead."
While the supporters' behavior was better-than-expected, the Chinese let rip on the pitch, picking up four yellow cards for some wild tackles in a bad-tempered game.
Japan also picked up two yellow cards as tensions boiled over.
"Hit back when you get hit. That's the spirit. I felt it was what I should do, at least," Japan midfielder Keita Suzuki said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but