In the Internet frenzy of August 18, a video of former international footballer and current head coach of the Nantong Zhiyun team in the Central League, Xie Hui, who made a drunken slip of the tongue, went viral so quickly that the Nantong Zhiyun team subsequently announced that it was suspending Xie Hui from his coaching duties.
The incident originated on the evening of August 17, when Xie Hui and his friends drank too much alcohol at a private dinner. After drinking, Xie expressed his views on domestic professional soccer, which involved several clubs, including Shanghai's Harbor and Shenhua, as well as Chengdu Rongcheng and Nantong Zhiyun. Nantong Zhiyun happens to be Xie Hui's current owner.
The remarks were secretly recorded by an attendee who was not a friend of Xie Hui's and uploaded to social media, where they were then quickly retweeted and quoted, sparking an online buzz.
Gaffe sparks career twist
The Nantong Zhiyun team quickly released an official statement, pointing out that Xie Hui made improper remarks after drinking at a private party, and suspended his coaching duties with immediate effect.
Xie Hui also issued an urgent apology statement through his personal social media, saying, "Last night I attended a friend's party and drank too much. I don't know what the other side intentionally, to take pictures, and will be my drunken words released online, but also malicious misinterpretation, seriously damaged my reputation. To such people abhor, reserve the right to legal action! At the same time, I sincerely apologize to the units mentioned (Chengdu Rongcheng, Shanghai Shenhua, Shanghai Harbor, Nantong Zhiyun)."
The incident became a typical case of social celebrity gaffe, and the rapid spread of the Internet turned a small-scale incident into a public one.
Was a positive representative of the national soccer team
For young fans, Xie Hui may not be familiar, but 20 years ago, he was the "top stream" star in Chinese soccer.
Xie Hui's family background is also quite distinguished. His great-grandfather was the only Chinese member of the Royal Society of Medicine after studying for a doctorate of medicine in Germany, and worked as an attending physician at a public hospital in London. Xie Hui's grandfather was a member of the New Fourth Army and the prototype of Li Xia in the movie "Never Fade Away".
Xie Hui, who is one-eighth English, showed his soccer talent from an early age, joining Shanghai Shenhua in 1995 at the age of 20. He became a famous player in the late 1990s in the First Division A, and was the number two scorer of Shanghai Shenhua in the 1995-1999 season.
In 2000, Xie Hui moved to Aachen in German Bundesliga and became the top scorer of Aachen with 14 goals in the 2001 season. In the same year, Xie scored 7 goals and became the top scorer of the national soccer team in the World Cup qualifiers. However, Xie Hui was gradually marginalized by Milu in the ten-team tournament, and eventually fell out of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup list in the forward line competition.
As an iconic figure in Chinese men's soccer, Xie Hui has played for German Bundesliga clubs for three times, and his strength is not to be underestimated. Xie Hui, who speaks fluent English, has always been an idolized player in the national soccer team for his excellent expression and handsome appearance.
After retiring in 2009, Xie Hui has been engaged in the management of soccer clubs and youth training work, served as assistant coach and spokesman of Shanghai Shenhua team, team manager of Shanghai Lucky Star Youth Football Club, and also served as a scientific research coach of the U16 national youth team.In 2015, Xie Hui joined the coaching team of the reserve team of Shanghai Hong Kong as a coach.From 2016 to 2019, Xie Hui served as the Shanghai Hong Kong First-team assistant coach, assisting three foreign managers, Eriksson, Boaz and Pereira, to achieve the 2018 Chinese Super League title and the 2019 Super Cup title.
Xie Hui, who is regarded as one of the best coaches of the middle generation in China, made his debut as head coach of Nantong Zhiyun in the Central League in 2020 and finished in 12th place.So far this year, Xie has led Nantong Zhiyun to a second-place finish in the first phase of the Central League in Group B. In the same group, Nantong Zhiyun faced top-ranked Chengdu Rongcheng in two rounds of matches and lost by one goal, but the game process was not inferior. Now, Nantong Zhiyun won the third place in Group A in the just-concluded second phase of the Central League.
With Xie Hui's life, rich soccer career and "learning" persona in the coaching process in recent years, he should have been a rare representative of positive energy in Chinese soccer. But this time, Xie Hui's drunken "words are not enough", which is indeed regrettable.
Xie Hui should not be dismissed because of one incident
Xie Hui's speech this time mainly centered on some of our professional league inputs and results of the "spit", mainly expressed three points of meaning:
First, the investment made by many clubs over the years has added up to tens of billions of dollars, especially Shanghai's Shenhua and Seaport, which are representative of the people. He even pointed out that Seaport had spent 12 billion dollars behind the scenes when it won a Chinese Super League title, based on the experience of his former tenure at Seaport.
Secondly, in this year's competition in the Central League, Chengdu Rongcheng spent 200 million dollars and hired Korean foreign coach Seo Jung-won. His Nantong Zhiyun only had 10 million invested, but was able to hold down the other team.
Thirdly, the clubs that are big spenders don't know how to play football, and he's trying to beat the crap out of the ones that don't know how to play football.
It's no secret that all these years our professional soccer "gold dollar soccer" environment, I believe that many people know that Xie Hui is not false. Of course, such as "seaport 12 billion investment in exchange for a Super League title" expression, in terms of numbers is not necessarily accurate, but Xie Hui in the seaport club work a few years, the club's specific operation is clear. Some people speculate that the evaluation of seaport may be the main reason why Xie Hui was suspended by Nantong Zhiyun.
As for Xie Hui's "slagging off" of his Chinese League One rival Chengdu Rongcheng and his expression of confidence in his coaching ability, it was more of an "exaggeration" that was not malicious when he was under the influence of alcohol. Compared with the bad social impact brought about by many celebrities' "slip of the tongue" and the recent exposure of some celebrities' behavior in the entertainment industry, Xie Hui's private remarks belong to a completely different nature of content.
The media and many fans posted a lot of comments on the Internet after the work happened, and the mainstream opinion is that: this time, without Xie Hui's consent, the individual who took the video privately and spread it, and part of the self media, and even the platform that released it, are the pushers that led to this public incident, and they should all bear the corresponding social responsibility. This incident should also cause reflection on the regulation of online public opinion.
As for Xie Hui himself, he not only issued a personal apology statement after the work happened, but also privately communicated with all the clubs, explaining the circumstances of the incident, with a rather sincere attitude, and all the clubs also accepted Xie Hui's attitude.
Many coaches and former national football teammates who care about Xie Hui believe that Xie Hui, as a public figure, must pay attention to his own identity in private social occasions, and this is a very painful lesson. However, they think that Xie Hui's character and professional ability should not be "beaten to death" or even completely rejected because of this incident. They called on the community to treat Xie Hui with a more tolerant attitude, so that he can return to coaching as soon as possible and prove himself again.
