China's Football Association on Thursday confirmed that an appeal had been lodged to Asian Football Confederation against a disallowed China's goal in FIFA World Cup qualifier against Hong Kong on Tuesday.
China had to see a goalless tie in Hong Kong after Yu Dabao's goal in the 77th minute was ignored by the referees.
Yu's flash volley in the box was denied by the Hong Kong keeper and Yu's second shot found a post. But the ball bounced into the net, completely crossing the goal line before the keeper tapped it out in the air.
However, the appeal has little chance to change the result.
The Goal-line Technology, which had been implemented in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, was not used in the 2018 World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers.
After the 0-0, China is staying third in Group C and has slim hope to enter the final stage of the qualifying campaign.
Only the winners of the eight groups and the four best runners-up can advance. Now, Qatar, the 2022 host, is the clear winner of Group C. Even though China, with two games remaining, overtakes Hong Kong to occupy the second place, it is very difficult to beat other runners-up on points.
