Evergrande bans Wei for brutal tackle

Guangzhou Evergrande has attempted to placate the outcry over Wei Shihao's horrific tackle at the China Cup by banning the winger for a month.

Wei's reckless lunge on Uzbekistan's Otabek Shukurov broke the midfielder's leg and sparked an outpouring of outrage from fans already incensed by China's miserable performances at the four-nation invitational tournament in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Wei, who has earned a reputation for nasty tackles throughout his career, escaped with a yellow card in Monday's 1-0 loss but Evergrande acted swiftly to mete out punishment of its own.

"The club has decided to give Wei Shihao a one-month suspension and the player should report to the club's human resources department to have a deep self-examination," read an Evergrande statement on Tuesday.

"The club will decide if he will be expelled based on his self-examination.

"Before the new Chinese Super League season, our club published a series of new regulations to better manage the players. We have higher requirements on our players, but Wei Shihao seriously violated the regulations during the China Cup."

The 23-year-old has apologized for the tackle but his show of remorse did little to dispel a torrent of anger on social media, with related topics viewed 70 million times on Weibo and an apology post from Wei attracting over 13,000 mostly critical comments.

"I realized he was badly injured and I'm really sorry about that foul," Wei said after the match. "I sincerely apologize. Legs are very important to a soccer player, and no body wants to hurt anyone.

"I hadn't touched the ball for a long time before the foul. I wanted to do something to slow their pace. It's truly unexpected to hurt him that badly.

"I visited Shukurov in the hospital and saw his leg in a plaster cast. I can feel his pain as a soccer player. I feel deeply guilty. I'm truly sorry and hope he recovers as soon as possible."

The 22-year-old Shukurov, who plays for Al-Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

The unseemly incident completed an utterly miserable induction for new China head coach Fabio Cannavaro, who was only appointed on the eve of the tournament amid much controversy over his dual role as Evergrande boss.

Cannavaro defended Wei after the game.

"Wei is capable with his own special characteristics," said the former Italy defender. "He is better at attacking than defending. Wei is not a bad kid. His dedication and eagerness to win the game resulted in the incident."

Most pundits disagreed sharply with Cannavaro's assessment.

"Before you do such a foul, do you not consider that it could greatly affect a fellow pro's career?" said well-known sports commentator and anchor Han Qiaosheng.

"A player's performance should not be evaluated by how reckless he can be on the pitch. It should be determined by if he can use tactics professionally."

There was little to admire in China's tactics as Eldor Shomurodov's 35th-minute winner consigned Cannavaro's side to its second straight 1-0 loss in Nanning, having opened with a loss to Thailand.

Uruguay retained the trophy by thrashing the Thais 4-0 on Monday.

Cannavaro said he will resume negotiations with the Chinese Football Association on the possibility of making his caretaker position a permanent one.