(File Photo: VCG)

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) on Wednesday said it regretted “untrue message” of its German counterpart DFB after the latter announced that the suspension of the controversial U20 friendlies were decided by both sides.

Screenshot of CFA's official website about the statement

“The German Football Association (DFB) has recently announced that following talks with CFA, both sides agreed to discontinue U20 friendlies. The related contents from DFB were not a result of negotiations,” the Chinese association said in a statement published on its official website.

“CFA feels regrettable over the untrue message from German side,” it added.

DFB’s statement came on Friday as it announced that the series of friendly matches between Chinese U20 teams and teams of southwest regional division would not continue under agreement, according to Reuters.

The China-German U20 friendlies became a controversial topic after Tibetan separatists waved pro-independence flags and interrupted at the first match of the series on November 18.

The game was then cancelled. The Chinese team left Germany in protest, as China saw the incident has harmed the nation’s State interests, while the German side refused to guarantee that similar incidents would not reoccur, citing democracy issue.

DFB General Secretary Friedrich Curtius has reportedly went on a trip to China during the Christmas holiday to discuss the future of the U20 friendlies, according to Deutsche Welle.

However, CFA denied that Curtius was invited by the Chinese association, which also made no contact with the German official in any way.