QPR China "Brawl" Aftermath Continues

-
The aftermath of the QPR vs China "brawl" - Video -sees the ref "rested;" alleged death threats against QPR Players and the Chinese coach apologizing. After the "incident" Chairman Paladini was quoted by the press as pledging he would "work 24 hours a day to find out what happened. I hope we can find out something by Saturday." Independent Note: It's now Saturday.

BBC- China open inquiry into QPR brawl
The Chinese Football Association has launched an inquiry into the mass brawl that erupted between China's Olympic football team and QPR on Wednesday.
The seven players involved in the fight have arrived in China after being sent home but officials there have warned them they could face punishment.
"We will investigate the incident and strictly punish those responsible," said CFA spokesman Dong Hua.
"Under no circumstances do we have any tolerance for such behaviour."
The English Football Association is also investigating the incident, although because it was not an official match and was played at QPR's training ground it could be difficult for the FA to take action.
They kicked us. If someone suddenly beats you, what is your reaction?
China's Lu Zheng
QPR are also holding an internal inquiry and have promised to take a tough stance.
Referee Dermot Gallagher was forced to abandon the match 15 minutes before time after players from both sides fought on the field.
Chinese player Zheng Tao was left unconscious and was taken to hospital after suffering a broken jaw.
The brawl seemed to break out when Gao Lin tried to kick the ball while jumping into an opposing player and, since returning to China, he has apologised for his part in the bust-up.
"It is a pity, I must apologise to all, I am the main person responsible for this incident," Gao told the Beijing Youth Daily. "I shall bear all consequences."
However, team-mate Lu Zheng was more defiant and was quoted in the Chinese media as saying: "They kicked us. If someone suddenly beats you, what is your reaction? It's the instinct for protecting ourselves." BBC

INDEPENDENT - James Lawton
Confucius and a China crisis
The Queen's Park Rangers chairman, Gianni Paladini (pictured), is to be applauded - and also wished good luck - when he says he will get to the heart of an affray with the Chinese Olympic team which might have been choreographed by the late Bruce Lee.
Maybe he could read up a little Confucius before sifting some of the evidence, including that of an "insider" at his club. "The referee said we weren't to blame for anything," the insider declared. "Our players were only defending themselves."
Another witness said that Zheng Tao, one of the alleged aggressors, was kicked in the face, and had his jaw broken in three places, when he was lying on the ground.
It is no laughing matter, but Confucius was alleged to have said that he who walks on mountainside is not on the level. This, Paladini should be warned, may also apply to the flatlands of Shepherd's Bush. Independent

IT'S BRAWL OVER FOR DERMOT AT EMIRATES
10/02/2007 More Football
DERMOT GALLAGHER has been red-carded for Arsenal's game with Wigan tomorrow after he failed to stop the 50-man brawl between QPR and China's Olympic squad.
The Banbury official had been scheduled to take charge of the Emirates Stadium clash.
But Premier League referees' chief Keith Hackett intervened and ordered Gallagher to be replaced by Phil Dowd.
Hackett is understood to fear that Gallagher would not be in the right mind to take charge of another match in the aftermath of the shocking scenes at QPR's Harlington training ground on Wednesday.
Two QPR players, on-loan Chelsea midfielder Jimmy Smith and Pat Kanyuka, received death threats from an alleged London-based triad gang in the wake of the vicious clashes which left China's Zheng Tao knocked out and with a fractured jaw.
Last night the Chinese team management announced that seven members of the squad were being sent back to Beijing as punishment for their part in proceedings.Hackett believes that allowing Gallagher to take charge of the Premiership clash would mean he was the focus of attention, at the expense of the game itself.
The decision however, will not do the experienced official any favours after a difficult year.
Gallagher was dropped from the Premiership list for two months after missing then-Manchester City defender Ben Thatcher's elbow assault on Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes in August.
So far this season he has taken charge of just nine Premiership games, the lowest number of all the experienced referees on the top-flight list. Mirror

Mirror - February 9, 2007 - WE WILL KILL QPR
EXCLUSIVE CHINESE GANG'S DEATH THREATS AFTER BRAWL
A LONDON-BASED triad gang has sent death threats to QPR players and officials after a friendly against the Chinese Olympic team ended in a mass brawl.
Police were called to the Championship side's west London training ground after one unconscious Chinese player was taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw.
But now the Chinese mafia is threatening to take justice into its own hands after sending letters to the club and on-loan Chelsea midfielder Jimmy Smith and defender Pat Kanyuka promising revenge.
QPR will now step up security at their Harlington training ground and for tonight's away game at Southend.
Television footage of the 50-man fight, which involved QPR assistant manager Richard Hill, has shocked the Chinese nation.
And Rangers chairman Gianni Paladini has promised to sack any employee guilty of misconduct. "We will go to work 24 hours a day to find out what happened," he said.
"If anyone is found guilty, then there is no way we can be associated with anything like that.
"Violence does not solve a problem, and there is no place for it. I am sick about the whole thing. I completely fed up.
"There is a code of conduct at this club, and life is about how you behave"
The incident is also a major embarrassment for Chelsea, who have been hosting the Chinese Under-23 team at their Cobham training ground and helped arrange the friendly with QPR.
Referee Dermot Gallagher abandoned the game with 15 minutes to go with QPR winning 2-1.
The manager of the Chinese Olympic team yesterday apologised for his team's part in the amazing bust-up.
"The incident that happened at QPR training ground has hurt the image of the Chinese Olympic team," said Li Xiaoguang.
"Whatever the reasons for the incident, as the team manager, I will take the responsibility. Although the participants in this incident were the players, I will take all the blame." Mirror

Media storm ensues after China-QPR brawl
BEIJING, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Seven China under-21 internationals have been sent home early from the Chelsea training centre as the mass brawl with Queens Park Rangers players dominated Chinese media on Friday.
Defender Zheng Tao ended up in hospital with a fractured jaw after Wednesday's melee, which caused the friendly between China's Olympic team for next year's Beijing Games and English second division club to be abandoned.
espite apologies from the visiting party on Thursday, the majority view in the Chinese media was that both parties were to blame for the fight.
'Equal brutality,' read the banner headline in the People's Daily, Beijing News had 'Olympic team purging, Gao expelled', while the Beijing Times put the blame on the CFA with their 'The father should be blamed for the son's fault'.
Beijing Youth Daily's 'Fight in Europe' is a play on words in Chinese.
Shanghai Shenhua striker Gao Lin, whose attack on an opponent at the west London club's training ground sparked off the trouble, will be joined on the plane by six other players from Shenhua, Dalian Shide and Shandong Luneng, Sina.com reported.
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) told the news portal that the clubs had already requested the release of these players to help preparations for the new Chinese season and the Asian Champions League.
In China, the CFA have remained silent on the matter and their official Web site carried only a report on the senior team's 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan, which also took place on Wednesday.
Sports ministry paper China Sports Daily called for perspective in an editorial entitled 'It's only a game'.
'Now it's happened, we should forget about it. It was not a war, and need not be regarded as seriously as a diplomatic issue. Soccer will continue, friendlies, will continue... How to prevent this is something that really needs to be worked on.'
Some fans used the incident to pile more abuse on the Chinese national team, who are often pilloried by fans at stadiums and on the Internet.
'What makes me really angry is they are not even able to win a fight never mind the game... Gao Lin should have be smarter, why didn't he secretly niggle his opponent or fall to the ground and roll around like Cristiano Ronaldo?' Li Chengpeng posted on Sina.com. Soccernet

CBS - Chinese soccer officials launch investigation into soccer fight
BEIJING -- The seven members of China's Olympic soccer team sent home following a brawl during a match against English club Queens Park Rangers face an investigation into their behavior.
The China under-23 team's Feb. 7 match against QPR ended 15 minutes early with the English team leading 2-1 after players from both teams fought on the field. Chinese player Zheng Tao, who was left unconscious after the brawl, was hospitalized and suffered a broken jaw.
The Chinese Football Association said late Friday it had launched an investigation and would punish those responsible.
"Under no circumstances does the Chinese Football Association have any tolerance for such behavior from our national team players. We will investigate the incident and strictly punish those responsible," spokesman Dong Hua said in a statement on the CFA's Web site.
One of the seven who arrived at the Beijing airport was a contrite Gao Lin, identified as one of the instigators of the on-field fight, which broke out when Gao attempted to kick the ball while jumping into an opposing player. The two crashed to the ground and the fight began.
"It is a pity, I must apologize to all, I am the main person responsible for this incident, I shall bear all consequences," Gao said in a low voice, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
Other players were more defiant and blamed the QPR players for starting the violence, which at one point involved about 30 people.
"They kicked us. If someone suddenly beats you, what is your reaction? It's the instinct for protecting ourselves," Lu Zheng was quoted as saying by the Beijing Morning News.
The China team arrived in England nearly two weeks ago at the invitation of Premier League club Chelsea, which is trying to get a foothold in the lucrative Chinese market. Chelsea announced a new Chinese-language Web site last month in Beijing. CBS
AP NEWS

Earlier in the week, a China XI Played a Chelsea XI at Brentford

Brentford Official Site - CHELSEA EDGE IT
In a very competitive game at Griffin Park on Monday evening, a young Chelsea side triumphed by a single goal against China's 2008 Olympic side.
In front of an attendance of 4,440, the only goal of the game came in the 10th minute when Sergio Tejera`s long range free kick took the keeper by surprise and swerved into the back of the net.
Chelsea: Makalamby, Hutchinson, Worley, Rajkovic, Bridcutt, Woods, Fernandes, Salami, Younghusband, Tejera, Stoch.
Team China: Z Chen, Ming, Bin, C Tao, Ting, Jun, Lin, Z Tao, Hai, Yuan, J Chen.
Brentford