By Zhao Rui (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-11 08:54

Title contenders Xinjiang Guanghui were officially kicked out of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs for misrepresenting its player Guan Xiuchang's identity, the CBA announced yesterday.

Guan Xiuchang

The club was stripped of all points from 18 games in which Guan played, dropping the team to No 11 and making them unable to qualify for the eight-team playoff.

The previously ninth-ranked Zhejiang Guangsha was lifted into the playoffs and will play against regular-season champions Guangdong Horses today.

This is the harshest punishment the CBA has delivered since Sichuan Team was kicked out of the league in 1998 following a transaction violation.

Fans hailed the move as 82 percent of respondents voted in a Sina.com poll saying the decision was "absolutely right".

Xinjiang owner Hou Wei, who had claimed his side was innocent, apologized to fans.

"I am sorry for letting our fans down," Wei said. "I hope fans can understand us and support us in the future.

"Even though we are unable to compete in the playoffs, we will stay in the CBA for next season. All we can do is make the best preparations for the new season that tips off this October."

Xinjiang players are obviously disappointed by the result, believing their heroic efforts and unexpected success have all gone to waste.

"I'm sorry for the result. Everybody worked so hard all season long," Xinjiang center Xue Yuyang said in an interview with CCTV. "Actually, we played very well even after Guan left. It was our own efforts that secured the playoff spot, but now it's been wasted just because of an individual incident."

The Vietnamese-American Guan, whose true name is Sou Song Cun, was caught using a fake Chinese ID in his registered profile and the club was accused of violating the regulation that a club can only have two overseas players.

Having played for Yunnan Honghe under the name "Ma Xiuchang" in 2004, the imposter averaged a modest 6.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. His best game came last month when he scored a career-best 20 points against Shandong Huangjin.

The former bottom-ranked Xinjiang were enjoying the best season in club history after signing former San Antonio Spurs center Menk Bateer with a 4-million yuan ($550,000) contract. They finished the regular season with 26 wins against four losses and were one of the hottest teams coming into the playoffs.

The 2007-08 CBA season has been marred by numerous negative reports of court violence, misbehaving fans and cheating referees. The season is expected to end next month. It was shortened by three months to give way to the national team for their preparation of the Beijing Olympics.

The CBA has punished seven teams for fan violence and dished out 140 thousand yuan ($19,200) in total fines.

The latest incident came in December when Shandong Huangjin took on Zhejiang Wanma. The referee lost control of the game as water bottles rained down on the court after some questionable calls. The game was halted for seven minutes as Guangdong's coach Li Chunjiang exchanged some heated words with a technical staffer after Li's assistant was hit in the face by a water bottle.