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Guangzhou suspend Conca over outburst

Reigning Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande have suspended Argentine star Dario Conca, pictured here on March 7, for nine matches and fined him $159,000 after an outburst at his coach

Reigning Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande have suspended Argentine star Dario Conca for nine matches and fined him $159,000 after an outburst at his coach. The late Friday announcement of the one million yuan fine and suspension comes after an angry outburst from Conca when he was substituted during Guangzhou's 3-1 AFC Champions League defeat to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on Tuesday. Conca scored his side's only goal with a penalty kick in the early stages but was unhappy when Lee Jang-Soo replaced him in the second half. "Conca openly made improper remarks about the coach, refused to respect the authority of the head coach and has brought a bad influence on the entire team," the club said in a statement on its website. It urged big-money signing Conca to respect the coaches and team discipline. It was not immediately clear what Conca said to the coaches but on his Chinese microblog site he complained about being benched. It is not the first time the attacking midfielder has been fined by the club. In January, he received a 150,000 yuan penalty for arriving late for training. Big-spending Guangzhou Evergrande, who signed Borussia Dortmund's Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios this week, currently top the Super League table.