Football coach slaps referee after getting red card, video goes viral

A video of a Chinese football coach slapping a referee during a match is going viral on social media.

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The videos of the incident showed the coach of Liaoning Shenyang Xin Duan confronting referee Chen Hao after a penalty was awarded against his team in the first half of a second-tier match against Nanjing City in China League One.

Xin Duan was shown a red card for his protests on the touchline, prompting him to strike the official. According to reports in Chinese media, he was later taken to hospital after fainting, before returning to the team hotel and apologising to the referee.

🇨🇳Chinese Football Association League 1
📃Round 15：

Nanjing City 4-0 Liaoning Shenyang City
Heilongjiang Ice City 1-2 Sichuan Jiuniu
Dandong Tengyue 3-1 Wuxi Wugou

Liaoning coach slapped the referee on the sideline!😲 pic.twitter.com/K2YH0sJvtq

— BsportsVIP (@BsportsVIP8) July 23, 2023

The club, in a statement, stated that their coach violated the disciplinary guidelines of the CFA League and apologized for his “irrational behaviour”.

“After the match, the management of our club has communicated with Xin Duan, who, along with the management of the first-team team, has realized the gravity of the mistake,” the statement read.

It added, “Xin Duan and the management of the first team recognised the seriousness of the mistake and found the match supervisor and the referee on duty at the first time to sincerely apologise for the irrational behaviour.”