BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese second-tier football club Guangxi Pingguo Haliao announced on Thursday it had retracted the statement on firing its sport director and two assistant coaches.
"The club has withdrawn the statement issued on September 29," the club said in the statement, offering its apology for having brought damage to the victims' reputation.
The club sport director Wang Xiao alongside assistants Du Zhenyu and Zhang Haifeng have demonstrated high standards, having done nothing detrimental to the club's interests and the Guangxi football, the statement read.
They will remain in their position at the club until their contracts run out, the club said in the statement.
The apologetic tone of the statement contrasted sharply with that of the September one.
In the strongly-worded statement released at the end of September, the club announced that its sport director Wang had been relieved of all his duties in the club, and assist coach Du had been dismissed with no chance of being recruited again by the club in the future.
Another assistant of the club, Zhang, was also sacked, that statement added.
The club also noted in that statement that it had demanded Du, a former Chinese international, to move out of the club premises and the accommodation provided by the club within two days.
"It sounds like a farce," one online comment below the Thursday's statement said.
"Those who knows what has gone on behind scenes, please share some information," another comment said. ■
