Football
John Duerden, Asia correspondent 6y

Shanghai Shenhua condemn alleged racism towards Demba Ba vs. Changchun Yatai

Shanghai Shenhua have alleged that star striker Demba Ba was the subject of racist remarks during a Chinese Super League match on Saturday night. 

Late in the 1-1 draw with Changchun Yatai, the former Senegal international collided with Tan Tiancheng and then became visibly angry at apparent comments from Changchun midfielder Zhang Li.

"We had an unpleasant incident in the game," Shanghai coach Wu Jingui told reporters. "Demba Ba was very angry.

"Later, I learned that a Yatai player used insulting language toward him [Ba]. Around the world, it has been stressed that there should be no insulting speech toward black athletes.

"The Chinese Super League has players of many different skin colours. We should respect our opponents and there should be no discrimination."

The incident has generated plenty of controversy in China and there have been calls among fans for the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to investigate and instigate disciplinary proceedings against Zhang.

After the game, Ba, who rejoined Shanghai for a second spell at the club in May, retweeted a post from one such account though the 33 year-old former Newcastle and Chelsea player refrained from commenting directly.

Shanghai Shenhua also posted on its official account on Weibo, a Chinese social media site similar to twitter, a poster of Ba that contained the slogan: "Say No To Racism."

The CFA has yet to comment.

Shanghai are sixth in the league at the halfway stage of the season with Changchun in 10th.

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