Horrific it was not: Chinese football officials make Shanghai Shenhua’s Qin Sheng scapegoat in ludicrous attempt at justice

The ban handed out to Shanghai Shenhua midfielder Qin Sheng was descried by one media outlet as, wait for it, being “for a horrific stamping.” A stamp it was, horrific it was not.

But when you consider Uruguayan striker Luiz Suarez was only given a four-month ban when he was found guilty of biting a player for a third time, a six-month ban for an act which if it occurred in Europe would have been dealt with by a spell on the sidelines for somewhere between three to six games, is absurd.

Anyone looking at the basic fact of a six-month ban, which will see Qin ineligible to play until two months before the end of the current season if Shenhua want the 30-year-old back at all, would expect something more serious.