Fight at the Football

"Brawl“ at Beijing v. Tianjin Match

Tempers flared at last night's match between Tianjin and Beijing Guo'an out at Fengtai Stadium. Although the sports pages of today’s papers are calling it a brawl (斗殴) , if you watch the video below, you’ll see it was really just a bit of pushing and dramatic falling on the ground. However, things did get a little chaotic as substitutes and trainers rushed on to the field to get involved. After the situation had calmed down, the Saudi referee’s decision to give the Guo’an player who had been pushed to the ground (Zhang Yonghai) a red card for “diving,” led to further troubles and complaints of incompetence.

The incident did little to quell the reemergence of the “Jingma” that Beijing fans are so well known for. The Chinese version of ESPN reports that the violence spread off the pitch to the 13,000 strong crowd that attended the match. Police had to control the situation as a group of about 100 Beijing fans not only yelled obscenities but also burnt the Tianjin club's flag, prevented the Tianjin fans from leaving the ground and tried to attack the bus on which the Tianjin team was leaving.

The game ended in a two all draw, putting Beijing ten points off the ladder leader’s Shandong with only three rounds left to go in the 2008 season. So, although Guo’an no longer have any hope of fulfilling their dreams of topping the league ladder, there’s still a chance they can beat out Shanghai to qualify for the Asian Champions Cup.

Guo'an will take on the struggling Changsha at home on Nov 23 and 10th placed Chengdu on Nov 30.

Links and Sources
Youku: 视频: 中超联赛北京国安在VS天津泰达结束前球员斗殴
Star Daily: 国安2比2平天津，红牌引发全武行 外来裁判也昏哨(组图)
ESPN: 京骂依旧哀乐声起 国安球迷焚烧队旗添乱
Beijing Times: More images