June 19 (Bloomberg) -- How much does soccer-loving China
hate its men’s national team?
The mostly empty hotel lobby that greeted the team on June
12 when it checked in before a game against Thailand was one
measure -- especially in a country where national athletes, even
in minor sports, receive adoring attention from fans. The many
bare seats at the stadium in Hefei where the game was played on
June 15 were another sign. But perhaps the biggest display of
disdain followed the Chinese squad’s 5-1 loss to a team that had
replaced seven members of its roster with youth players. A
sizable number of fans found their way down to the team bus and
blocked it from leaving while chanting furiously, sometimes
obscenely, about the coach, the team and the human anatomy they
all resemble. A riot ensued, injuring at least 100 people,
according to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human
Rights and Democracy.
