The Football Association ruled that Shanghai Seaport's goals were disallowed, a decision that left Meizhou Hakka with a 1-2 defeat at home when they should have won 1-0. With these three crucial points, Meizhou Hakka will move up to 16 points and 11th place in the Chinese Super League, widening the gap to the relegation zone to three points.
For Shanghai Seaport, the 2-1 scoreline saw them remain undefeated and move to the top of the Chinese Super League standings with a two-point lead over city rivals Shanghai Shenhua. Had it not been for those two controversial goals, Shanghai Seaport would have lost 0-1 to Meizhou Hakka, which would have put Shenhua in a position to lead the Super League.
Meizhou Hakka player Yin Hongbo expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the FA's decision, tweeting, "Huh!" Prior to this, Yin Hongbo had been in a heated argument with fans on social media over Chitardini's handball before the goal. The FA's final verdict gave a clear answer.
Shanghai Shenhua and team reporter Ji Yuyang also questioned the FA. He said, "If Meizhou Hakka is relegated because of these three points, and Shenhua misses the championship because of these three points of the opponents ...... then, looking back at the game, why would they arrange for such lenient penalties, which is related to the big picture of the championship and relegation."
In addition to this game, the match between Shanghai Seaport and Wuhan Sanzhen also had a missed call, from which Shanghai Seaport also profited. When defending Wuhan Balde, Shanghai Seaport player Wang Zhenao kicked at the opponent, which constituted a reckless foul and should have been awarded a free kick and shown a yellow card, but the referee on duty did not penalize him.
