"If the AFC imposes heavy sanctions on individual players of the two clubs Zhejiang (China) and Buriram United (Thailand) for participating in the fierce brawl and tarnishing the image of Asian football at the AFC Champions League, then it is likely that famous players such as Theerathon Bunmathan (Thailand team) and Dion Cools (Malaysia) will be banned from participating in the 2023 Asian Cup," said VOCKET FC .
Dion Cools (Malaysia national team) is playing for Buriram United Club
"Malaysia's main defender, Dion Cools, 27, is a Buriram United player. During the brawl, this star initially jumped in to try to stop the melee. But then, when he saw Zhejiang FC players violently beating his teammate Ramil Sheydayev, Dion Cools also joined the fight by grabbing the neck and forcefully dragging a Zhejiang player out.
Dion Cools' actions were immediately met with a fight by Zhejiang players. Luckily, this player was saved by Buriram United coaching staff, so he avoided the assault," VOCKET FC shared, based on images from a new clip of the fight that was just released on November 30.
"Also from this new clip shared on social network X (old Twitter), the source of the terrible incident started from some Buriram United players arguing and possibly having words and actions that provoked Zhejiang's reserve players, who entered the field right after the match ended.
Some of the images identified show that the first provocateur was defender Theerathon Bunmathan of the Thai national team and Buriram United Club. After that, many Zhejiang players from inside and outside the field rushed into the fight, causing chaos and pushing Theerathon Bunmathan away. Theerathon Bunmathan then showed restraint and tried to avoid the hot spots of the fight, as well as pulling his teammates away from the assaults," VOCKET FC added.
Theerathon Bunmathan (in circle) is pushed away after allegedly provoking and inciting the fight.
Dion Cools (shirt number 11) tried to intervene, but also got into a fight and argued with the Chinese team players.
The AFC has now launched an investigation into the ugliest brawl in the history of the AFC Champions League and Asian football. Both Zhejiang and Buriram United face hefty penalties. But the Chinese club could be punished more severely for allowing the incident to happen on their home ground, allowing fans to throw objects onto the pitch, as well as for failing to ensure security and prevent the incident early.
Thai media said that Buriram United players were severely beaten. Meanwhile, some public opinion in China criticized Thai players such as Theerathon Bunmathan for inciting the incident. Former Chinese player Fan Zhiyi criticized Russian player Ramil Sheydayev for choking a Zhejiang FC player in a mixed martial arts brawl, which could have killed the player.
Ramil Sheydayev (left) provoked Zhejiang Club on social networks after the incident.
Meanwhile, Malaysian player Dion Cools was criticized by many Chinese netizens as ungrateful and unfaithful when he participated in a brawl against Chinese players of Zhejiang FC. They used the reason that this player's mother is of Chinese origin, and Dion Cools also intended to play for the Chinese team, but later chose the Malaysian team.
The father of player Leon James (Buriram United Club) protested, saying that his son and Dion Cools only tried to stop the incident, but were still assaulted by Chinese players and demanded that AFC severely punish Zhejiang Club.
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