Chinese Soccer Fans Rampage Over Tie Game
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BEIJING — Thousands of Chinese soccer fans attacked police and besieged a rival team’s hotel during a nightlong riot in which 135 people were injured and more than 40 arrested, official reports said today.
The rioters battled armed police with sticks, stones, bottles and fire extinguishers at Nanchong, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, after a draw between the Sichuan and Tianjin youth teams put the home side out of a national competition.
The clashes Monday night were China’s most serious sporting violence since riots which erupted in Beijing on May 19, 1985, when China lost a World Cup qualifying match to Hong Kong.
The Liberation Army Daily said Monday’s trouble began when a Sichuan club player was brought down by a defender from the rival Tianjin city team.
Rioters then smashed stadium windows and decorations, set ablaze a police car and five police motorcycles and attacked firemen battling the flames, the daily said.
A mob of thousands later moved into the streets of the city and besieged police headquarters and the hotel where the Tianjin team was staying.
The daily said some rioters entered the hotel and smashed equipment inside. It added the riot was only brought under control when the Tianjin players left the hotel at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
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