China player’s ‘extra-marital affairs’ caused team to lose against Iran, says angry wife

The wife of a Chinese player gave her husband a red card on Wednesday for playing away, claiming that spending too much time with his mistress led to his embarrassing gaffe in a crucial World Cup qualifier.

Jiang Zhipeng, a Guangzhou R&F club left-back, had a disastrous performance in Tehran against Iran on Tuesday, where his header sent the ball to the opposing team, setting them up for the only goal of the game.

Chinese newspapers called the 1-0 loss in their Fifa World Cup Asian qualifier, a “nightmare” showing for the national side.

Angry fans found a scapegoat, when Jiang’s wife revealed on social media that he had recently filed for divorce.

“I supported him when he was still a poor lad and my mum treated him like her own son, my family even chipped in with 1 million yuan to cover the down payment for his house in Shanghai,” Zhang Zhiyue wrote. “We didn’t have a wedding ceremony and our relationship was never made public.

“For nearly three-and-a-half years out of our four-year marriage, he was sleeping with other women and now he is trying to drive me to an early grave,” she wrote.

She posted photos of Jiang snuggling with his alleged mistress, and begged the Chinese football association and the sports bureau of Guangdong province to “expel” him from professional football.

Many fans agreed: “His character is horrible. Kick him out of national football,” one commenter wrote.

Chinese soccer authorities have not commented on the allegations.

The 28-year-old made his debut for the national team in 2013 and has been a popular player for the Guangzhou Chinese Super League club since 2014.