HONG KONG, Oct 4: Tens of thousands of soccer fans marched in the Chinese city of Wuhan, blocked traffic and some charged a police blockade in protest against an eight-game suspension of a star player, a Hong Kong newspaper said.

The Chinese Football Association suspended defender Li Weifeng and fined him 8,000 yuan ($1,169) on Tuesday for a scuffle with a player from the opposing team who was given the same punishment. The Sept. 28 game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Li, 30, is a former captain of China’s national team who played on the Olympic squad in August.

Li’s Wuhan Guanggu club later announced its withdrawal from the Chinese Super League in protest, saying it would sue the Football Association and fuelling the outrage of Wuhan’s fans.

Tens of thousands of fans hit the streets on Thursday, shouting slogans like “Dissolve the Football Association!” and “The Super League is Finished!”, and staged a sit-in to block traffic, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper reported on Saturday.

Wuhan’s deputy mayor went to the scene to try to calm the fans and about an hour later they left peacefully, the newspaper said.

Soccer is wildly popular in China, but the professional leagues are plagued with corruption and the national team is widely considered an embarrassment.—Reuters