HONG KONG (Reuters) - Shanghai SIPG manager Andre Villas-Boas and striker Hulk have been hit with two-game bans by the Chinese Football Association for publicly protesting the eight-match suspension handed to the club's midfielder Oscar earlier this month.
The pair, along with China international Wu Lei, were sanctioned for their reaction to Oscar's lengthy ban for instigating a melee during Shanghai's Chinese Super League (CSL) meeting with Guangzhou R&F almost two weeks ago.
Hulk and Wu were banned for wearing shirts in support of Brazil international Oscar after their side's match against Henan Jianye last weekend.
Both were also fined 50,000 yuan (5,678.48 pounds) each, while the club has been fined 100,000 yuan for a "dereliction of duty", according to an official statement.
Villas-Boas, meanwhile, had posted a message on his Instagram feed that stated: "355 career games; 5 years in the English Premier League; 47 appearances for Brazil; 70 goals. ZERO RED CARDS!!! 8 games suspended."
The message ended with an emoticon of a downward facing thumb.
The loss of Hulk and Wu in addition to Oscar could have a negative impact on SIPG's attempt to keep pace with league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande.
Shanghai are in second place in the CSL standings, four points behind Luiz Felipe Scolari's side and the duo will miss games against Jiangsu Suning and Changchun Yatai.
Oscar served the first game of his suspension last weekend when SIPG defeated Henan 4-1, with both Hulk and Wu among the scorers.
Gianluca Zambrotta, assistant coach to Fabio Capello at Jiangsu Suning, also received a two-game ban for his behaviour following the side's 0-0 draw with Beijing Guoan on Monday, which ended in an on-pitch altercation between the teams.
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong; Editing by John O'Brien)
