Shanghai Shenhua midfielder Qin Sheng was handed a six-month suspension by the Chinese Football Association as punishment for his wicked foot stamp on Tianjin Quanjian import Axel Witsel.

Qin, 30, was booked with a straight red card during Shenhua and Quanjian's 1-1 draw at the Hongkou Stadium following an intentional stamp on the foot of Witsel during the first half of the match. Qin and Witsel were pushing each other to gain position inside the box before a corner kick when the incident happened.

Like Us on Facebook

The China international was fined ¥300,000 ($43,500) by Shenhua and demoted to the club's reserves indefinitely. Shenhua also threatened to withhold his wages for the rest of the season in an act of condemnation to Qin's actions.

Qin is now prohibited from playing on the pitch until Sep. 12, which is "less than two months before the end of the season", as per the South China Morning Post. The report noted that he was also give an additional ¥120,000 ($17,400) fine.

The former Guangzhou Evergrande, Jiangsu Suning, and Liaoning Whowin midfielder apologized to the fans through his social media account after the incident.

Meanwhile, Xinhuanet reported that Qin's teammate, Sun Shilin, was handed a two-game suspension and a ¥10,000 (around $1,450) fine by the CFA for taunting via a thumbs-up sign after Tianjin striker Alexandre Pato missed a spot kick during the same contest. Pato's penalty attempt would have won the game for Quanjian if he made it.

In another story, Guangzhou Evergrande manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was also given a one-game stadium ban by the Chinese Super League after making public comments insinuating that CSL officials are favoring Shanghai SIPG, his clubs' local arch-rivals.

The World Cup-winning head coach blasted the league's decision to hand Guangzhou captain Zheng Zhi an extended ban after he was sent off during their season-opening match against Beijing Guoan. Scolari will miss the Southern China Tigers game against SIPG next weekend.

TagsChinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Chinese Super League News 2017, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC, Qin Sheng