In the video, filmed in a busy street in Guangzhou, Yu is seen bending down in front of his Mercedes Benz, and scratching at one of the letters on the number plate. He heads back to the drivers seat, but then comes back again, and continues scratching until he has turned the letter E into an F.
The significance of this is that the car is registered in Liaoning, which is where he was born and raised. That is more than 2,700 kilometres from where the incident took place.
Guangzhou, in attempts to restrict traffic pollution, has strict laws that say that non-local cars can only be driven in the city for four consecutive days. Owners then need to wait another four days before they can be driven again. It was these regulations that Yu was caught trying to flout.
Yu joined Evergrande in 2014, and has played 177 times for them, scoring 30 goals for them. His spell at the club has been highly successful and he has won 10 trophies with them, including that league title last season, although, like most footballers, he has not been able to play recently because of the suspension of football because of the Covid-19 pandemic,
However, with the virus apparently in containment in China, teams are hoping that they can resume training again in the near future.
However, when Evergrande do get back together again, Yu, who has won 55 international caps for China will not be in their squad. His contract with the club has been terminated with immediate effect after he was found guilty of having breached their internal disciplinary protocols.
Nor have his troubles ended there. After being arrested by the local police, he has been subsequently charged and will now spend 15 days in jail. In addition, he has been fined the local equivalent of 600, and will have 12 penalty points added to his licence.