CHINESE FOOTBALL CLUB FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY AFTER WINNING SUPER LEAGUE

Jiangsu Suning Club from China announced that it plans to apply to court with a petition for its own bankruptcy. According to CGTN, the sports club did not pay the football player's royalties for the whole quarter, and owed bonuses due to the champions of the Super League. Four months ago, Jiangsu Suning became the leader of the competition for the first time in its history.

The club is owned by the Suning Commerce Group. The company acquired the sports asset for $ 80 million in 2015, although the history of the Jiangsu Club dates back to 1994.

In February 2021, Jiangsu Suning Club changed its name to Jiangsu FC. The reason for this was the policy of the National Football Association of China, which banned the use of the trade names of owners and sponsors in the names of sports teams and club associations.

Later, it became known that Suning not only intends to drive the club into bankruptcy, but has already liquidated all Chinese sports teams, including the women's club that won the Super League in 2019, as well as all children's football teams.

Sports commentators report that the situation with the Jiangsu football club would not be unique if not for a few moments. It is obvious that many of the world's football clubs have been experiencing a state of total financial fever lately. But in China, this was added to the measures of influence from the side of the government regulators. The Chinese authorities have imposed many restrictions caused by the pandemic and falling profitability for the owners of sports associations.

In particular, not only a ban on naming a club by the name of its beneficiary was introduced, but also the threshold salary values ​​for athletes. What is more, the financial situation of the Suning Group turned out to be dire. The company has about € 1 billion in debt.

Now, it is not only company executives who are getting rid of non-core assets in difficult times at risk of losing face. The entire Chinese football league faced a threat to its image on February 28, when it became known that Jiangsu would be liquidated just a couple of months before the start of the sports season.