By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing
Chinese football players were so incensed with the referee’s decisions at a recent match that they chased him and hit him after the final whistle.
This violent display by the players from Tianjin earned the team an immediate ban, and angry criticism from the Chinese Football Association.
The incident sums up the poor state of Chinese football - which is why so many fans prefer to watch English Premier League teams.
This interest in English football has not been lost on the Premier League, which has seen an opportunity to export its brand.
The English league is currently trying to cash in by staging a tournament in Beijing featuring three Premier League teams.
English teams Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Hull City are battling it out in the Asia Trophy with Beijing team Guo’an.
Officials assaulted
Football in China, where there are millions of enthusiastic fans, has been in the doldrums for some time at both club and national level.
In club football there have been allegations of match fixing, suspected corruption involving referees and constant bad behaviour by players.
At the recent match involving Tianjin, the Chinese Football Association said players had damaged the image of the game.
“This was a serious breach of sportsmanship, trampling on the spirit of the sport,” read a statement from the association released the day after last Sunday’s match.
Players not only attacked the referee, they also assaulted other competition officials, broke equipment and stormed the stands.
“Their behaviour was a disgusting violation of the rules and regulations, causing a bad social impact,” the association statement went on to say.
The reputation of the national team is not much better.
Chinese people - and the government - believe sporting excellence is one way for China to promote its image abroad.
Officials spent millions of dollars to ensure China came top of the gold medal table at last year’s Beijing Olympic Games.
But success on the football pitch has been harder to achieve; the national team has only made it to one World Cup tournament, in 2002.
At those finals China lost all of its three matches, failed to score a single goal and went home early.
Disappointed fans
The national team’s record has not got any better since then - it has already failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.
The state of Chinese football is an annoyance to many local fans - even among those who like to watch Premier League matches.
Many of those who turned up for the first matches of the Beijing tournament were hoping that their own team, Guo’an, would do well.
One of those who does not like to see Chinese teams beaten by foreign clubs is 25-year-old Tottenham fan Liu Yang, who was at the first match of the Asia Trophy.
“It’s not a good feeling because, after all, football is the world’s number one sport and I myself am a football fan,” he said.
“Football has a popular base here in China, but our teams just aren’t very good so many people are disappointed.”
“This was a serious breach of sportsmanship”
Chinese Football Association after Tianjin players attacked a referee
European teams, particularly those from England, have capitalised on the fact that China has an eager fan base.
Some foreign clubs have set up Chinese-language websites to cultivate new fans, and others visit China as part of pre-season tours of Asia.
The Premier League is also keen to market itself in China - hence the staging of the Asia Trophy in Beijing this year.
It has also set up training events for young Chinese players to coincide with the tournament.
Pushing the Premier League brand might be easier this season in China because some matches will be available on free-to-air TV - for the first time in two years.
Guangdong TV are reported to have paid nearly $3m to show one live match and a highlights package each week next season.
And while Chinese football remains poor, there will always be millions of eager fans happy to support and watch foreign teams.