Espanyol’s Wu Lei hailed in homeland after refusing to sign China flag for a fan
- Star forward explains to supporters in England that it is not right to sign on the country’s flag
- Official People’s Daily praises his action before he caps UK visit with goal against Sheffield Wednesday in a friendly
Chinese star Wu Lei earned high praise back home after refusing to put his signature on the China national flag.
The Espanyol forward was greeted by a group of Chinese fans at Doncaster Sheffield Airport before the La Liga side played a preseason friendly in England against home side Sheffield Wednesday.
The fans came up asking Wu for autographs and all were accommodated until one of them asked the player to sign on a small China national flag.
Wu politely refused, saying “cannot sign on the national flag”. The fan was not annoyed and joined Wu and other fans for a photo session.
Wu’s action was praised by major media in the mainland, who said the player truly respects the national flag. Video footage of the incident, released by the Spanish club, reached the top of microblogging website Sina Weibo’s “Hot Search” at one point on Wednesday.
The official People’s Daily site on Weibo said Wu had made a good example of how the national flag should be respected, while Sina Sports said “excellent, national flag cannot be signed”.