SHANGHAI: Two Chinese football teams purposely scored own goals to try to lose a farcical match in what has been described as âan unbelievableâ scene and âa smearâ on the game.
Widely shared footage of the game between the over-35 sides showed them strolling about and kicking the ball into their own nets unchallenged with the match locked at 2-2 towards the end.
The teams, on the southern island province of Hainan, were desperate to lose to avoid facing a stronger opponent in the elimination round of the competition.
Hainanâs football association called it âan unbelievable sceneâ and urged organisers to ban both teams for life.
âWe condemn this kind of unethical behaviour, which is a smear on amateur football in Hainan,â the association said in a statement.
âChinese football, how low can you go?â wrote a sports blogger on the Twitter-like Weibo who has five million followers.
âItâs indecent.â
The state-run China News Service said that such farcical scenes were all too common.
âAlthough this kind of behaviour is outrageous, it is distressing that on the chaotic amateur football field, negative situations like this often occur.â
Chinese media and the local football association did not say which team eventually succeeded in losing the game. â AFP
