Accusations of a possible "black whistle" referee have emerged following a 2016 Chinese Super League match between powerhouse squads Jiangsu Suning and Shanghai SIPG at the Shanghai Stadium last Saturday.

Jiangsu prevailed over SIPG in the match with a score of 2-1, but Shanghai's fans were particularly unsatisfied and suspecting the calls of the game's lead referee, Hai Tan, who had awarded the visitors a controversial penalty kick at the 68th minute with the score tied at 1-1, which proved to be the deciding game-winner.

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The Red Eagles were down early as China's transfer record holder Alex Teixeira sneaked a pass to fellow big-signing and Brazilian Ramires as the latter converted it home at the 20th minute. Jiangsu was able to control most of the ball possession even though they are playing on the road.

Shanghai managed to knot the count at the 62nd with a goal from striker Asamoah Gyan, who is coming back from a recurrent hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the season.

However, the controversial moment of the match happened six minutes later when Hai gave Jiangsu a penalty after midfielder Yu Hai looked to have beaten Teixeira to the ball.

The call provoked players from the two squads to encircle the game official which almost resulted into an uncontrollable brawl. Another surprise was that "at least one player put his hands on the referee - an automatic red card offence - but no cards were shown," according to the South China Morning Post.

Another Brazilian, striker Jô, slotted in the penalty kick to give Jiangsu the 2-1 lead, which eventually became the winning goal of the contest.

The report also noted that Shanghai Stadium fans shouted profanities against Hai as he was escorted out into the stadium's tunnel, calling him "black whistle," which is a slang term denoting corrupt referees. Fans said to have "waved money to indicate that he had been bribed and one even threw a mobile phone" on the game official.

Meanwhile, World Soccer Talk reported that SIPG manager Sven-Göran Eriksson brushed aside the referee's decision, saying that it would be "stupid" if he protested as they already lost the match and he does not want to lose twice.

"We played much better football and on the pitch we were the better team, but we lost - that's football," Eriksson said. "If I am sitting here and protesting, then it's stupid and I have lost twice, and I lost once already today,"

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League rumors, Jiangsu Suning FC, Shanghai SIPG FC