bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Football fans in China were outraged by Zhejiang FC’s decision to go ahead with a league match hours after the death of their Gabon international striker, Aaron Boupendza.
Police have ruled out foul play in the death of the 28-year-old, who died after falling from the 11th floor of a building in the eastern city of Hangzhou on Wednesday afternoon.
Boupendza’s Hangzhou-based club went ahead with a home Chinese Super League fixture later on Wednesday against Meizhou Hakka, sparking grief and anger from fans.
“Shouldn’t this match have been postponed?” one user wrote on the X-like social media platform Weibo.
Another posted on WeChat: “Why didn’t they postpone the match? The Chinese Super League is really very amateur.”
The match, which ended 2-2, was played in a sombre atmosphere with none of the club’s other foreign players taking the field.

Fans chanted Boupendza’s name, held up his shirt and lit up phone torches. After the final whistle, Zhejiang’s players and staff approached fans in an act of collective mourning.
Zhejiang’s emotional captain, Cheng Jin, struggled to answer questions before cutting short his post-match TV interview.
“I’m sorry, it’s not that I don’t respect you. I don’t have anything I really want to say,” he said.
Zhejiang’s Spanish head coach, Raul Caneda Perez, said that there was “nothing to say about the game” at his post-match press conference
“Today is not for talking about football,” he said, through an interpreter.
“Football should not be discussed in this context.”
Hangzhou police confirmed Boupendza’s death and said they had been called to an incident at 1.14pm on Wednesday.
Police said they “ruled out a criminal case” after investigations, which included conducting interviews and reviewing video footage.
Boupendza was taken to hospital, but efforts to revive him failed, the police added.
Zhejiang FC released a statement on Boupendza’s death after the match and said they were “fully cooperating with the relevant authorities to carry out the investigation”.
“All the club’s staff send their deepest condolences to his family,” the statement said.
The Chinese Football Association had yet to comment.
Gabon’s national football association, who announced in a statement on X on Wednesday that Boupendza had died, said: “Aged 28, Boupendza leaves us with the memory of a great striker.”
Gabonese president-elect Brice Oligui Nguema also took to X to add his condolences.
“It is with immense sadness that I learn of the tragic death of Aaron Boupendza, a talented centre-forward who brought honour to Gabonese football,” he posted.


Fans in China voice anger as club play hours after striker Boupendza’s death

Footballer dead in China after fall from building, Gabon FA says

Hong Kong star Shinichi Chan Shanghai Shenhua’s hero with winner deep into stoppage time

Hong Kong ‘changing the narrative’, as team begins bid to reach Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia

Chinese Super League

A fan holds a shirt with the name and number of Gabon striker Aaron Boupendza during the Chinese Super League match between Zhejiang FC and Meizhou Hakka in Hangzhou on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Aaron Boupendza executes a bicycle kick against Beijing Guoan on April 6. Photo: Xinhua

Aaron Boupendza playing in the Africa Cup of Nations for Gabon. Photo: Reuters

A fan holds a Boupendza shirt at Wednesday’s Zhejiang v Meizhou Hakka match in Hangzhou. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong spent HK$823 million on its athletes in 2023-24. Here’s where it went

Hong Kong Sports Institute nurtures athletes at its campus in Fo Tan. Photo: Winson Wong

Siobhan Haughey was among Hong Kong’s gold medallists at the Asian Games in 2023. Photo: AFP

Asian Games cyclists (from left) Leung Ka-yu, Yang Qianyu and Ceci Lee Sze-wing. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Sport

Football

Zhejiang FC go ahead with match against Meizhou Hakka in Hangzhou on day of death of the 28-year-old, who fell from a building on Wednesday


Zhejiang FC go ahead with match against Meizhou Hakka in Hangzhou on day of death of the 28-year-old, who fell from a building on Wednesday.


Hangzhou

Gabon