China

Guangzhou captain Zheng Zhi handed four-game ban over handshake controversy

Guangzhou Evergrande and China captain Zheng Zhi has been banned four games by the Chinese Football Association for handshake controversy after the Chinese Super League game against Tianjin Quanjian.

The Chinese international 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.

After the 4-3 defeat against Tianjin Quanjian on 2 July, Zheng failed to lead his teammates into a post-match handshake with match officials.

According to a CFA circular sent to Chinese Super League clubs, Zheng was fined for “not fulfilling his duty to lead players … to complete the handshaking ceremony”, as reported by Reuters.

His 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 ($1,470) by the CFA.