What do you do if you love football but never made it as a professional player?
There might be another way.
On May 4, Titan Sports tweeted that He Shihua, the principal shareholder of Chinese second-division club Zibo Ciju, played in a match a few minutes before the end of the game.
It finished 0-0.
In the CL1(2nd-division) match today between Sichuan Jiuniu and Zibo Cuju, He Shihua, the principle sharedholder of Zibo Cuju, was introduced into the match just ahead of the injury time. The 35-year-old enterpreneur/footballer wears No. 10 shirt. The match ended 0:0. pic.twitter.com/d0XfNFUFIZ
— Titan Sports (@titan_plus) May 4, 2021
An Uproxx article about the incident claimed that He also ordered the team coach to play his son, citing this tweet:
Chinese businessman bought Zibo Cuju, a second tier Chinese side, and told the coach to play his son.
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) May 17, 2021
[📸 @TUDNUSA] pic.twitter.com/IqK2bT1UAG
However, the guy in blue isn't his son, and he doesn't play for Zibo Cuju.
Instead, according to an article by South China Morning Post (SCMP), this fellow is Xu Guangnan, a shareholder of League Two Side Jilin Baijia.
Calling him "visibly overweight", SCMP said this occurred in 2019, in the final match of the season.
He played 15 minutes against the Xi'an Wolves, in a 2-1 losing effort.
In the last matchday of the CL2 season (Division 3), Jilin Baijia fielded their overweight No. 7 player. This is Xu Guangnan, an investor of Jilin Baijia. It is worth noting that Jilin Baijia players protested the club owners for owing them salaries earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/owCBy1wT4j
— Titan Sports (@titan_plus) September 29, 2019
Top image from Titan Sports Plus Twitter.
If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.