Zibo Cuju owner He Shihua waved away from free kick by teammate in China League One

Third game of season for Zibo Cuju’s He Shihua in China League One comes same week as Taiwan club owner plays Australia in World Cup qualifiers
Contrast to He’s ‘126kg son’ Xu Guangnan, who took every dead ball for Jilin Baijia in 2019 China League Two game

Chinese Super League

Jonathan White

Published: 1:24pm, 9 Jun 2021

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Zibo Cuju investor He Shihua has returned to the pitch for his side, making his third appearance of the season for the China League One side.

Once again, the 35-year-old came off the bench as the game wore down, this time entering the fray in the 91st minute, just after his side had scored an equaliser against Shaanxi Changan.

The owner might pay the wages but he was quickly told who was the boss on the pitch when he tried to take a free kick and was waved away by one of his teammates.

It was in stark contrast to the videos of former Jilin Baijia owner Xu Guangnan playing in 2019 where he took every possible dead ball for his side. That video was conflated with He’s appearances this season to become a viral story where He forced the coach to play his 126kg son.

Video of He being waved away from the ball was shared by the Twitter account of China’s Titan Sports media outlet.

The account also recently shared a post from Zibo Cuju player Ling Sihao, who shared a document from the club to pay outstanding wages to the players.

He’s back: Zibo Cuju owner plays again … but no sign of 126kg son

Zibo Cuju were promoted from China League Two last season but like many clubs in the Chinese football pyramid they struggled to pay their players and staff.

The club was then taken over in the close season by He Shihua and his Sichuan Huakun Energy Company.

As Titan reported, via Ling’s social media post, the new ownership has pledged to pay back the players.

Tuesday’s game ended 1-1, leaving Zibo Cuju at the bottom of their six team group on four points from 10 games. Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard also have four points from 10 games but are fifth on goal difference.

Zibo’s He still has a long way to go to match the feats of Taiwanese Football Premier League club owner Yoshitaka Komori.

The 34-year-old Taichung Futuro founder made his international debut for Taiwan against Nepal last week and then started against Australia on Monday night in their Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying match.

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