Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning have apologized and said they would punish the official responsible for a foul-mouthed reference on social media to rivals Shanghai Shenhua.
The official, who has not been named, mistakenly used the club’s account on the popular Weibo platform instead of his own when using an expletive about Shenhua and saying Jiangsu should “kill” their opponents in the next game.
Jiangsu is fifth in the CSL and face old foes Shenhua — 12th in the table — away on September 15.
“Due to our official Weibo managing editor’s operational mistake, inappropriate comments were posted, causing adverse effects,” Jiangsu wrote on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.
“We apologize to Shanghai Shenhua and their fans. At the same time, the club immediately and severely dealt with the Weibo account operator and manager who made this mistake.”
The offensive Weibo message was posted following Jiangsu’s 1-1 home draw with Tianjin Quanjian on Sunday.
It was later deleted but not before screenshots were taken and then posted online and in Chinese media.