Talking Balls: Fixes, Fingers, Fines and Fights

Scandal has rocked the National Games and they have not even officially started. A diving judge left the competition claiming “that all medals were decided internally ahead of time.” If this is true then it will rock the sport to the core. Read more about it here and here. We’ll have more on the corruption when we have it.

Beijing Guo’an currently sit top of the Chinese Super League with three games to go. It’s not all sweetness and light for the local heroes though. Guo’an’s Australian star Joel Griffiths has been in trouble with the CFA, and not for the first time. Apparently this time the 30 year-old has given the finger to the fans of Henan Construction and they didn’t like it. The CFA has banned him from playing for seven games and whacked him for an RMB 50,000 fine to boot.

The incident happened after Emil Martinez equalized for Guo’an in stoppage time to scrape a point. Griffiths ran from the bench to celebrate, where he was snapped eight times by a journalist. It was these pictures that the CFA used as evidence. Griffiths counters that he was giving an OK sign and “If you look closely, the other two fingers were up as well.” He plans to appeal the CFA, and to FIFA if he is unsuccessful, while suggesting that other players received less harsh treatment despite more clear evidence. Click here to see an interview (in English ) with Joel Griffiths.

This season Joel Griffiths has been banned for 13 games (or one third) of the season and been fined RMB 90, 000. Despite this in the 20 games he has featured he has scored 8 goals.

Yet more scandal for Beijing Guoan and the CSL came yesterday, with the game against local rivals Tianjin marred by hooliganism. Hundreds of Tianjin fans held up signs branding Darko Matic a Judas for leaving them for Beijing.

Tianjin fans also disrupted the Guoan players, using green laser pointers to distract them. The worst behaviour was on the 80 minute mark when they pelted Tao Wei with lighters, miscellaneous fluids and toilet paper as he waited to take a corner kick. At halftime opposing fans clashed on the stadium forecourt, where thousands of fans convened after the game to set fire to Guoan shirts and flags. This is the latest episode in a long standing enmity between the rival cities. Roll on next season.

China’s Zheng Zhi has proved a hit at Celtic after his display in the Old Firm. He’s already being viewed as a much better signing than former Hoop Du Wei. To see ZZ’s thoughts on the Old Firm game click here.

Last week’s China Open was won by Novak Djokovic in the Men’s Singles and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Women’s singles. The Bryan brothers won the Men’s Doubles and China’s Peng Shuai won the Women’s Doubles with her partner Hsieh Su-Wei.

The NBA exhibition game at Wukesong between the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers took place last weekend. Carmelo Anthony starred with 45 points as he led the Nuggets to a 128-112 win.

Finally, fight fans will want to take note that Beijing’s next big martial arts event is Battlefield X1, which goes down November 11 at the China World Hotel. The event, which is officially sanctioned by the World Professional Muay Thai Federation (WPMF), features ten Muay Thai bouts, including two championship belts, and one MMA (mixed martial arts) super bout.

Muay Thai kickboxing champion Vincent Soberano, the owner of Beijing’s own Black Tiger Hero Club with a lifetime record of 65 wins and only two losses, headlines against American veteran Byron Schnell in the main event co-sponsored by King of the Cage; while Thai kickboxing champion Pongsak faces up against Ray Biagtan of the Phillipines in a Muay Thai bout for the Pacific Rim Title, and China’s Wang Zhen will fight Jensen Estoro of the Phillipines for the Greater Asia Title.

“We’re very excited to be organizing this event,” said Soberano at a press conference in Beijing this afternoon. “This Battlefield X event focuses on kickboxing, but next year we’ll be working with King of the Cage from the US to put on more MMA events in China, starting with an event slated for March 20th in Beijing at the China World.”

Proceeds from the black tie event will go towards the CCTF China Children Insurance Foundation and the full fight card can be viewed here.

Tickets are available at 8706 1940 and 8656 7818. Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks.