<
>

Shanghai Shenhua's Qin Sheng given six-month ban for Axel Witsel stamp

Shanghai Shenhua midfielder Qin Sheng has been handed a six-month ban by the Chinese Football Association as further punishment for his stamp on Tianjin Quanjian's Belgium international Axel Witsel earlier in the month.

Qin was sent off after deliberately treading on Witsel's foot in the game on March 11 and the 30-year-old had already been fined RMB300,000 by his club and demoted to the reserves for the remainder of the season.

The former Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder will now not be eligible to play in the Chinese Super League until Sept.12 while also receiving an additional RMB120,000 fine from the governing body of Chinese football.

The CFA has also handed a two-game ban and a RMB10,000 fine to Qin's Shanghai teammate Sun Shilin for mocking striker Alexandre Pato after the former AC Milan man missed a late penalty in the same game.

Guangzhou Evergrande coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, meanwhile, will serve a one-game stadium ban when his side face league leaders Shanghai SIPG next weekend following comments by the former Brazil and Portugal coach suggesting officials were favouring their big-spending rivals.

Scolari criticised a decision to extend a ban handed to captain Zheng Zhi when he was sent off against Beijing Guoan in the opening game of the season, suggesting the midfielder had received the extra game on the sidelines because his club was due to face Shanghai in the next round. The World Cup-winning coach was also fined RMB8,000.