"I never expected to see this kind of thing. We came here to train, not to fight. I am very disappointed, very."

Chinese Olympic team player Zheng Tao's mouse was blocked by gauze for hemostasisin after the brawl between the Chinese side and the England team Queen's Park Rangers on Feb.7th, 2007, according to sina.com sports.The match was forced to be halted.[sina.com]

Eight players including Gao, who apologised for the fracas, will be sent home from London early as punishment, China's Sina.com website reported.

"Because of me an incident occurred during the match with Queen's Park Rangers which severely damaged the reputation of the Chinese Olympic team. I sincerely apologise to everybody concerned," Gao said in a statement.

Assistant coach Jia Xiuquan also apologised for the Chinese team.

Chinese Olympic team head coach Ratomir Dujkovic looks like sober after several players was injured in the riot between the Chinese Olympic team and England Queen's Park Rangers on Feb.7th, 2007.The match was forced to be halted.[sina.com]

"There was a brawl in the match against Queens Park Rangers. As the representative of the Chinese coaches I apologise for it," he told Sina.com.

"In the future we will put more effort in to strengthening the management of the players and will definitely avoid similar things happening again. Again, I apologise to the domestic fans who love and support the team."

Team manager Li Xiaoguang has promised an inquiry into the matter. "I will be conducting a serious inquiry into it," Li said in a statement.

Under-23 international Zheng was unconscious for five minutes after the fighting, which was sparked when Gao Lin hit a player from English second division club Queens Park Rangers at their training ground on Wednesday.

"We have noticed some of the young players cannot control themselves well...We have learnt a lesson from this incident and it will help us to strengthen our management and education of the young players," Li said.

"As the team manager, I would like, on behalf of the team to make an official apology to all fans supporting our team as well as to all media friends," Li added, saying he would take full responsibility for the incident.

Countries are only allowed to field Under-23 players in Olympic competition and 2008 hosts China are in England preparing for next year's Beijing Games.

The Chinese Olympic team was invited to train in London by Premier League club Chelsea, which is trying to make inroads into China's lucrative sports market. Chelsea launched a new Chinese-language Web site last month in Beijing, and announced new sponsorship deals in China.

The Chinese team, as part of its stay in England, also scheduled several friendly matches, including Wednesday's game.

1

2