WORLD : Irate Chinese Soccer Fans Suspect Championship Fix, Go on Rampage

More than 1,000 soccer fans, believing that the result of a championship match had been rigged, rampaged through a southern Chinese city breaking windows and setting a scoreboard ablaze, state-run media said today.

The fans, attending the Second Spring City Gold Cup championship in the southern city of Guiyang, became enraged Sunday as they watched an unspirited match between two soccer teams from northern Liaoning province, the People’s Daily newspaper and local radio reports said.

The fans rioted because they felt that the two teams were not trying their best and had reached a “gentleman’s agreement” on which team would win, the newspaper said.

An unspecified number of people were detained by police after more than 1,000 fans rushed onto the playing field after the match at Liuguangmen Stadium and then marched on a guest house where the athletes and referees were staying, the report said.