China's sporting reputation ahead of the Beijing Olympics took a hit at the East Asian Football Championships, with fans misbehaving and their men's team collecting 17 yellow cards.
China's aggressive tactics in the three games they played against Japan, South Korea and North Korea also earned them a US$14,500 fine from the East Asian Football Federation.
Local spectators set the tone in Japan's opening 1-1 draw against North Korea by booing the Japanese national anthem, jeering the Japanese players and burning some Japanese national flags.
When China then lost 1-0 to Japan the crowd turned their anger on the home side, demanding Chinese Football Association vice president Xie Yalong be sacked.
Xie, a native of Chongqing, had earlier fired up his team by urging them not to lose to wartime aggressor Japan.
"Never lose to the Japanese team in Chongqing," he said, citing heavy World War II Japanese bombardments of the city where Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek (
Japan knew it was never going to get an easy ride in China with the players and supporters on the receiving end of taunts and abuse when they played group matches here at the 2004 Asian Cup.
In a bid to calm tensions, the public address system repeatedly warned at both men's and women's games that it is the "traditional virtue of Chongqing fans" to respect opponents and watch matches in a "friendly atmosphere."
The ill-tempered China-Japan match saw the Chinese collect four cautions in addition to the five yellow cards they picked in going down 3-2 to South Korea.
The regional federation on Saturday fined the hosts US$4,500 for the misconduct, according to its regulations that a team can be penalized a maximum US$10,000 for picking four or more yellow cards in a match.
But it failed to deter the Chinese, who picked up another eight bookings and two red cards as they demolished North Korea 3-1 later that day, an offense that cost them a further US$10,000.
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
RSS