The country's football association has launched what many believe is the first investigation into 'racial abuse' following the Demba Ba 'incident' and hit Zhang Li with a six-game ban and $6,100 fine

By John Duerden @ ATimes.com, Aug. 11

[....] Shanghai boss Wu Jingui gave his club’s version of what had happened.

“I learned that a Yatai player used insulting language toward [Ba],” Wu said in the post-match press conference. “Around the world, it has been stressed that there should be no insulting speech toward black athletes. The Chinese Super League has players of many different skin colors. We should respect our opponents and there should be no discrimination.” [....]

Ba, who has played in France, Germany, Turkey and most notably in England with Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham, did not publicly comment but did retweet a post from a fan that called for an investigation from the Chinese Football Association, or CFA, into the affair [.....]

There tend to be two kinds of racist abuse in football [....] Much of the abuse had come from the fans. It reached such a level last year that Pescara’s Ghanaian star Sulley Muntari walked off the pitch in protest after chants and insults from opposing supporters. His action was supported by some in the country but not all [....]