'Shandong abstention loss' Now, due to controversy over tickets to the ACLE quarterfinals,·AFC ranked 10th in Shanghai, not 9th in Pohang, and fans are criticizing it
'Shandong abstention loss' Now, due to controversy over tickets to the ACLE quarterfinals,·AFC ranked 10th in Shanghai, not 9th in Pohang, and fans are criticizing it
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Shandong Taishan, a Chinese professional football team, suddenly canceled the match just two hours before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE) Ulsan HD. Earlier, at a home game against Gwangju FC, the team sparked controversy over the photo issue of "Chun Doo-hwan's provocation," but was under fire again for its unconventional behavior of abstaining right before the match. AFC is facing another controversy by placing 10th-ranked Chinese club Shanghai instead of 9th-ranked Pohang in the last place of the quarterfinals, where eighth-ranked Shandong withdrew.
Ahead of the match against Ulsan in ACLE on Wednesday, Shandong announced the cancellation of the match with two hours left before the start of the match. According to the Korea Professional Football Association, Shandong told AFC that it is not allowed to play the match due to health problems of its players and coaching staff.
Then, it was reported that the Shandong club accepted the request when AFC said that it was not allowed to miss only one game due to regulations and that the entire tournament should be abandoned.
However, the prevailing atmosphere is that he is doubtful that he returned to Korea after holding an official press conference and training the previous day.
During the home game of Game 7 of the ACLE League Stage against Gwangju FC on the 11th, some spectators waved paper with the faces of Chun Doo-hwan, North Korea's Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-un toward the away seats. In response, the Gwangju club sent an official letter of complaint to the AFC and demanded a thorough investigation and disciplinary action. Since then, Shandong issued an apology statement on the club's official channel on the 14th. Shandong, which had caused a great disturbance at home over spectators, has also caused problems in away games this time.
There are many speculations that he gave up the game in advance in anticipation of missing a ticket to the quarterfinals because he was likely to be punished by AFC for causing problems at home games against Gwangju, and that he gave up because he feared Shandong would be embarrassed if domestic fans protested at the game on the same day due to the controversy over Chun Doo-hwan's photo.
As Shandong withdrew, the issue of tickets to the ACLE quarterfinals emerged as another issue. As Shandong, who was confirmed to advance to the quarterfinals in eighth place, is excluded, it is reasonable for the ninth-ranked Pohang Steelers to advance to the quarterfinals, but AFC announced the team's advance to the quarterfinals on its official social media on Tuesday, placing Shanghai in 10th place, not Pohang.
According to the ACLE rule, if a team withdraws from the tournament, the result of the official match against the club concerned will be excluded, and the entire result will be calculated anew. Under this scenario, Pohang, which once earned three points by beating Shandong, has lost three points, 토토사이트 which does not allow it to advance to the round of 16. Shanghai will maintain the eight points level as it did not play against Shandong.
However, AFC only posted the list of teams that advanced to the quarterfinals on social media posts without a clear explanation. Many fans are criticizing why Shanghai is not Pohang.