China captain Zheng gets four-game ban for handshake snub

Hong Kong: China captain Zheng Zhi was handed a four-match suspension by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) following his failure to lead his Guangzhou Evergrande team mates into a post-match handshake with match officials last weekend.

The CFA has been cracking down on disciplinary issues in recent weeks.

Zheng, who has led Guangzhou to the Chinese Super League title in each of the last six seasons, was also fined 40,000 yuan ($6,000) by the CFA on top of a 100,000-yuan fine by his club for the incident, which happened after a 4-3 defeat by Tianjin Quanjian.

According to a CFA circular, Zheng was fined for “not fulfilling his duty to lead players … to complete the handshaking ceremony”.

Zheng’s team-mates Mei Fang, Feng Xiaoting, Paulinho, Ricardo Goulart, Wang Shangyuan, Zeng Cheng, Zou Zheng, Huang Bowen, Yu Hanchao and Zheng Long were all also fined 10,000 yuan.

The suspension is Zheng’s second of the season. He was banned for two games after being sent off in a match against Beijing Guoan in March.

As part of its attempts to stamp out indiscipline, Beijing Guoan’s Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz was banned for five games and fined 25,000 yuan for pushing an opponent during his team’s 0-0 draw with Jiangsu Suning on Sunday.