CHINA’S hottest youth prospect has been suspended for nine months after an incredible falsification of his age.
Zhang Xiuwei shot to prominence last season and was integral as Tianjin Quanjian clinched Champions League qualification in the final match.
However, during the campaign, he drunkenly crashed his Porsche, causing a collision involving six other vehicles, and the mystery about his falsified documents began to unravel.
Marca report that, professional records state that he was born on January 13, 1996 in Tianjin — but these are not quite as they appear.
At an early age, his parents falsified his documents by changing his name to Zhang Jixuan and altering his birth date to January 13, 1994.
It led him entering primary school earlier than permitted in China.
Most Read in football
Problems started to emerge when his footballing talents became apparent. It was then that his parents re-altered his documents with his original name and birth date.
It is only because of the investigation into the car crash that his parallel life became apparent, as there are records of a Zhang Jixuan, born in 1994, within the Chinese Football Federation.
GOOD FORTUNE Chinese Super League side Hebei Fortune preparing Lionel Messi bid with signings of Javier Mascherano and Ezequiel Lavezzi — after he rejected £1.7million-a-week contract
The player has now been hit with a suspension, which will keep him out of action until the resumption of the Chinese Super League after the 2018 World Cup.
Zhang joined Tianjin in 2016 after spending two seasons in the Lyon youth system.
Leave a comment