Football Ferns coach Tony Readings walks away after snubbing Chinese counterpart Hao Wei. Photo / Getty
Football Ferns coach Tony Readings refused to shake the hand of his Chinese counterpart Hao Wei today, after the New Zealand team were knocked out of the Women's World Cup by the Asian team.
It was unusual to see the snub - it's fairly rare in football, as
usually even a cursory shake is offered - but wasn't completely unjustified, after an ill-tempered end to the match which had seen Wei dismissed from his technical area by the referee.
It came after the Chinese team, knowing that a 2-2 draw would be enough to progress, pushed the limits of gamesmanship in the final 10 minutes.
Twice they obstructed Ferns' players trying to take free kicks, and when the New Zealanders objected and tried to move them away, the players involved from both teams were booked. The Chinese coach was officially warned about the behaviour of his team but it had little effect, as he later seemed to deliberately obstruct Ria Percival from taking a throw in close to the Chinese technical area.
