Oscar leads big names behaving badly in China
SHANGHAI: Oscar is suspended for eight games after a brawl. Carlos Tevez riles fans with a trip to Disneyland while his club are playing. Ezequiel Lavezzi and Hulk deny being anti- Chinese.
As the Chinese Super League (CSL) hits the halfway point of the seasonthisweekend,themegabucks lavished on imported players has triggered unprecedented interest, but the headlines have been dominated by foreigners behaving badly.
While nobody is chasing them out of the country just yet, Brazilian international Oscar -- who received the mammoth ban for sparking a mass brawl last week -- is not even the latest acquisition to run into trouble.
Beijing Guoan’s Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz was sent off on Monday night after appearing to slap an opponent during a melee at the end of a bad-tempered scoreless home draw with Fabio Capello’s Jiangsu Suning.
Prior to the rush of blood in which he lashed the ball directly at two Guangzhou R&F opponents, attacking midfielder Oscar, who cost an Asian-record 60 million euros from Chelsea in the January window, appeared to have settled well into life at Shanghai SIPG with a string of highly- rated performances.
Far better than Argentine forward Tevez who has so far failed to ingratiate himself with fans at neighbouring Shanghai Shenhua and is rumoured to be eyeing a move away from China despite signing a contract reported to be worth a staggering 38 million euros (US$ 40 million) a year in January.
Lavezzi, another Argentine forward on big money following his move last year from Paris SaintGermain to Hebei China Fortune, was told by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) last month to “regulate his words and actions more” after promotional photos emerged of him in a slant-eyed pose, causing outrage on social media. Forward Hulk, while flourishing with nine CSL goals on the pitch alongside fellow Brazilian Oscar at SIPG, was also hauled before the CFA last month over allegations that he punched the Guizhou Zhicheng’s assistant coach and made anti- Chinese comments in the players’ tunnel at half-time.
The burly striker and the club both denied the claims and the CFA said therewas“noevidence” against Hulk after an investigation.
Yang Qinnong, 25, a diehard SIPG fan, said the money his club shelled out on Hulk and Oscar -- at a combined cost of 116 million euros (US$132 million) -- had been worth it. — AFP