Stadium closed after refs hurt in China attack

SHANGHAI: A Chinese second-division club were ordered on Wednesday to play a home match behind closed doors after four match officials were attacked following a controversial draw.

Police are investigating who beat up the referee and his assistants after the power was mysteriously cut on Saturday in their changing room at Baoding Rongda’s stadium, in a fresh low for Chinese football, which has invested huge sums in improving the sport and signing foreign players.

Baoding Rongda, a club near Beijing, are at the bottom of China’s second tier and were infuriated when referee Huang Xiang added seven minutes of injury time at the end of a game that they were leading 2-1 against Wuhan Zall.

Home players and fans were further riled when Huang awarded Wuhan a debatable penalty in stoppage time and the visitors converted the spot-kick to snatch a draw.The Chinese Football Association (CFA), which has issued a series of lengthy bans in recent weeks to star names including Shanghai SIPG’s Oscar in the top-tier Super League, said Baoding players and staff angrily confronted Huang afterwards on the pitch.

The referee and his assistants had to be escorted off by security personnel as fans pelted them with debris, state-run newspaper The Beijing News said. Police are helping the CFA identify who the attackers were, why the power was cut and why there was not enough security to protect the officials.

The CFA handed out a series of fines and punishments to Baoding, over what the association called a “malicious” incident.The club were ordered to play a game behind closed doors and its Dutch head coach Johannes Bonfrere was banned from the bench for two matches for berating the referee.Baoding chairman Meng Yongli burst into tears at a press conference, alleging his side had been cheated out of the win, and later said he was pulling the team out of League One.