Quenching his thirst while on duty proved costly for Chongqing Lifan goalkeeper Sui Weijie, who has been fined for paying more attention to his water bottle than the opponents as they equalised in a Chinese Super League match.
Hovering around the relegation zone, Lifan were leading 1-0 seven minutes from time in Sunday’s match when hosts Liaoning were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area.
From a hastily taken set piece, Liaoning midfielder Ding Haifeng darted past a group of static defenders before slotting the ball into an empty net, much to the horror of Sui, who was stood motionless drinking from a bottle next to the goalpost.
Lifan have since slapped Sui with a 50,000 yuan (Dh29,605) fine and he faced a club suspension.
“I made a terrible mistake in Sunday’s game and let go a full three points,” Sui, who was confronted by Lifan supporters at Liaoning’s Shenyang Airport on Monday, was quoted as having said.
“I won’t repeat the same mistake and will never lose concentration.”
Lifan languish just above the drop zone in 14th place on 10 points after winning just two of their 11 matches this season.
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