Chinese league digest

National team

Camacho insists on Evergrande players

National team coach Jose Antonio Camacho (pictured) created something of a headache for Guangzhou Evergrande, refusing to hold seven players out of his lineup for two friendly matches in September. The Cantonese club is facing a tight schedule in September.

The CSL-leading club has a league match against Dalian Aerbin on Sept 13 and an AFC Champions League quarterfinal against Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad on Sept 20 (local time).

The national team will play Sweden and Brazil on Sept 6 and 10. It will take 35 hours to fly back from Brazil, which means the players will return to China on the day of their match with Aerbin.

According to Chinese newspaper Soccer News, Evergrande coach Marcello Lippi and general manager Liu Yongzhuo talked with Camacho about the conflict on Wednesday in Xi'an. Camacho insisted the Evergrande players are important to the national team and said he requires a full squad to play the two powerhouses.

Camacho agreed to postpone Sunday's training session until Aug 30 to give the players more time to rest after Saturday's league matches.

Guangzhou Evergrande

Franchise appeals for reporters' safety

Several reporters from Guangzhou were refused entry to media seating and their safety was threatened during Evergrande's 2-1 league win over Changchun Yatai at Changchun Jingkai Stadium on Saturday.

According to Guangzhou media, the media stands at the stadium were occupied by home fans when reporters from Guangzhou arrived ten minutes before the game started. The reporters were told to go to another area, but were not allowed to enter with their media accreditations and were asked to show tickets.

The reporters were led under the coordination of local officials, but were surrounded and abused by dozens of home fans.

They left with Evergrande's team bus after the game.

Evergrande appealed to the Chinese Football Association on Monday morning to do a better job of protecting reporters. China's professional leagues, led by the CSL, are returning to respectability thanks in part to the media, the club said in a letter.

It went on to say that loose organization and management at some stadiums not only impedes the smooth operation of games, but also seriously threatens the safety of the reporters.

(China Daily 08/21/2012 page22)