The "bad boy" of Hong Kong soccer made a welcome return to the national squad ahead of this week's East Asian Cup qualifiers, putting an end to weeks of speculation about his whereabouts. Chan failed to respond to a call from former coach Ernie Merrick for a match against Malaysia last month. Chan explained that he had been training with his new mainland club, Sunray Cave.
The head of the People's Liberation Army's Second Artillery Corps became the first officer promoted by Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping after Xi took over as head of the Central Military Commission, an early sign of Xi exerting his new authority. Wei, who became a full general, also joined the commission as part of the party's leadership transition earlier this month.