Meizhou Hakka FC, a club in China's League One and the upcoming opponents for Beijing Enterprises, have reportedly refused a request to postpone the fixture following the death of Cheick Tiote.
The Ivorian unexpectedly died in training Monday, and per Zhijie Shao of BBC Chinese (h/t Phil Dawkes and Matt Davis of BBC Sport), Beijing head coach Gao Hongbo told reporters he wanted the match to be moved. Despite Meizhou's refusal, he remained optimistic for a solution, saying, “We hope the (China) FA would offer some help to postpone the match on Saturday.”
Beijing media officer Yang Xiaoxiao spoke to BBC Chinese and said a cause of death will not be revealed until Tiote's family travels to China: “We must wait till his family is here, we need to respect their opinion and not to speak more at this moment.