The Chinese under-20 football team on November 24 suspended its stint in a German regional league in the fallout of a row over Tibetan flags displayed by activists a week earlier during a clash with TSV Schott Mainz in the first of 16 planned friendly games.
The game was halted for half-an-hour because the U20 side refused to continue, only agreeing to resume after the protesters removed the offending flags.
China’s under-20 side was in Germany to play a series of exhibition games. Photo: AFP
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The agreement laid the groundwork for closer cooperation between the two countries’ football associations and its clubs, and allowed China to pay for experts from Germany’s top league, the Bundesliga, to help improve its national team and help develop its Chinese Super League.
Although the German Football Association’s (DFB) refusal to forbid Tibetan flags during the U20 games earned it a harsh condemnation from China’s foreign ministry, in a statement explaining the U20 project’s suspension the DFB stressed its confidence that the excellent relationship with the Chinese Football Association (CFA) will be furthered regardless of the latest setback.
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“Indeed, the project was exploited by a very few spectators in order to convey messages that were perceived as insults by the Chinese team, the officials, the CFA coaching staff as well as the Chinese audience,” the DFB stated.
