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A commentator and former Chinese soccer player was removed from the broadcast team after referencing a "Chinese military hero" from the Korean War during a 2026 World Cup match telecast, foreign media reported.
According to Hong Kong's Ming Pao and other local outlets on the 20th, Li Yi, who was handling World Cup commentary on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, broadcast the Austria vs. Jordan match on the 17th. Around the 34th minute of the first half, while describing how an Austrian defender blocked a Jordanian player's shot with his body, he likened it to "Huang Jiguang blocking the gun barrel," and was removed from the broadcast team after the first half ended.
Huang Jiguang was an army signalman in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (Chinese military) who fought in the Korean War. He is understood to have died in October 1952 during the Battle of Triangle Hill in Cheorwon, blocking with his body two U.S. machine guns that were attacking the Chinese main force. China subsequently awarded the fallen Huang Jiguang the title of "Special-Class Hero." The anecdote that Huang Jiguang threw himself to block the gun barrel was widely promoted by authorities, and he is still revered as one of the martyrs representing China.
Local media explained that "while such analogies in games or sports were not uncommon in China in the past, since the 'Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law' took effect in 2018, heroes such as Huang Jiguang have rarely been mentioned as analogies in live broadcasts."
Meanwhile, Li Yi, a former Chinese national soccer player, is known in South Korea as the figure involved in an incident at the 2003 East Asian Football Championship, where he kicked the ankle of South Korea's Lee Eul-yong and was struck on the back of the head with an open palm.
