Social media users have also shared video highlights purporting to be the “126kg son” playing for the Zibo club in the Chinese league.
Further details have been added as the story made its way from Twitter to the web pages of globally renowned newspapers from The Sun in England to Spain’s AS, Italy’s Correire Dello Sport and Portugal’s A Bola. Later it has been in South Korean media.
The Sun, for example, wrote some fantastic details in the story headlined, “Millionaire buys Chinese second tier side before forcing boss to start SON every game after taking No 10 jersey himself”.
They wrote that after a poor start to the season “Shihua has now taken matters into his own hands – by playing HIMSELF and his son” and that “At the start of May, Shihua took the club’s No10 shirt for himself, a number in football usually reserved for the side’s best player”.
The owner subbed himself on against Sichuan Jiuniu and had little impact, they wrote.
“But he has now gone a step further by ordering head coach Hongyi Huang to now start his SON in every match.
“According to TUDN, Shihua’s offspring weighs 19-and-a-half stone,” The Sun wrote, pointing to a Spanish-language Twitter account among the first to share the story of father and son.
“And he too struggled when he made his first appearance four days ago, which resulted in defeat to Shaanxi Chang’an.
“But Shihua’s son is still expected to start in Thursday’s clash against Hangzhou Greentown,” they added ahead of Zibo’s China League One game against the team yesterday.
“And if results don’t pick up soon, Shihua could also be making another inspirational cameo too.”
Great story. The only thing is that it is categorically not true, as funny as it might be.
He Shihua is indeed among the shareholders at China League One side Zibo Cuju. The 35-year-old is also registered as a player and did indeed come on for the team in their 0-0 draw with Sichuan Jiuniu, Manchester City’s sister side, on May 4.
The facts have been lost in the meantime.
He indeed had little impact as he came on in injury time, with the clock showing 90 minutes having elapsed.
The owner was also registered as a footballer for the Sichuan Huakun club in the amateur Chinese Champions League last season, the team that his company supported financially before taking over newly promoted Zibo Cuju ahead of this season.
The Zibo-based club had struggled to pay players and staff last season and He’s Sichuan Huakun Energy Company saved them in March.
He was then registered as a player ahead of the season, a fact reported in Chinese media at the time who also said that while he has invested in football to realise his dream of playing he would not let it affect the team.
He has been registered for three clubs in his “playing career”, according to German website Transfermarkt – Chengdu Decci in 2019 and China League Two side Sichuan Huakun last year.
As for the photos and video of the portly player – who is nonetheless unlikely to be 126kg – in the blue kit, he has nothing to do with Zibo Cuju.
That is Xu Guangnan playing for the now defunct Jilin Baijia in September, 2019, the club where he was an investor at the time.
Xu came on during the second half of a game against Xian Daxing Chongde on the final day of the China League Two season after the team had already been relegated. The names of the teams can be clearly seen written in Chinese on the footage.
Those claims about him being He’s son? Xu was 33 at the time in 2019 and Zibo’s He is 35 now.
The lies have made it back to China where social media users have shared the misleading headlines with users joking that it is Chinese football’s own fault for so often being the punchline. Others saw the funny side, especially in the claims that He and Xu could be father and son or the weight claims.
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