[The Epoch Times, May 26, 2022]A few days ago,Chinese Super LeagueofChongqing Liangjiang Athletic Football Club(hereinafter referred to as the Liangjiang Club) announceddissolution.According to reports, the club’sunpaid wagesanddebtThe problem has been going on for a long time, and the employees have not been able to ask for salaries. An insider disclosed the truth of the team’s disbandment.
On the morning of May 24th,Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic Football ClubAn announcement was made to announce the withdrawal of the Chinese Super League and the cessation of the operation of the team.
The announcement stated that at the end of 2016, Wuhan Dangdai Group invested 540 million yuan to take over the club, and has invested more than 3 billion yuan in more than six years. Affected by the epidemic and other factors, the club is currently heavily indebted and unable to maintain the club’s operations.Since the beginning of 2021, Dangdai Group has discussed the share reform with relevant government departments many times, but it has not been able to proceed as scheduled.debtIt keeps accumulating, accounts are frozen, and employees’ lives are extremely difficult.Finally decided to withdraw from the Chinese Professional Football League anddissolutionteam.
On May 18, all the players and staff of Liangjiang Club issued a “Letter to All Social Circles” saying, “In the past three years, we have been suffering fromunpaid wagesIn the current situation, we have been owed the most wages for 16 months. In the face of more than a year of unpaid wages, most of the club employees have difficulty maintaining a normal life. Many people go to take out food or run Didi after get off work, swipe credit cards or borrow money to live. “
The letter said, “From 2019 to the present, we have been experiencing the difficult situation of arrears in wages. We have been paying silently and wholeheartedly, but in the end, what we have in return is only verbal promises that cannot be fulfilled again and again.” “Recently, due to the lack of wages, , the players of Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic Club went on strike, and if the arrears of wages are not resolved, the team may not enter the competition area before the start of the season.”
Under the condition of being owed wages for a long time, the players stopped training on May 16, and on the 18th, they held up signs and banners at the club gate to ask for wages: “We have to survive, we have to support our family, and pay back my hard-earned money.”
“China News Weekly” reported on May 25 that Shao Shang (pseudonym), an old employee doing administrative work at the Liangjiang Club, was also owed wages.
Shao Shang said that the entire club has more than 100 staff working in logistics and administration, as well as 70 or 80 coaches, players and coaches in the echelon, all of whom are owed wages. Those doing logistical and administrative work were owed 10 months without pay, and some first-team coaches were owed more, about 16 months.
Shao Shang said that a single player has been owed more than 10 million yuan in wages, and there are also a few who owe 5 or 6 million yuan in wages.
Zhang Liang (pseudonym), who has worked in the logistics of Liangjiang Club for 8 years, is also owed 12 months’ salary and more than ten thousand yuan in 2020 competition bonus.
Zhang Liang said that a logistics person in charge of the club’s team, because the club had no money to play games, the person in charge paid out of his own pocket to buy air tickets and arrange hotel accommodation for the team. The person in charge was owed about 1.5 million in total. .
Shao Shang said, “As far as we know, the club now owes at least two hundred million yuan in debt and tens of millions in taxes.”
Shao Shang and other employees believe that the direct reason why they are owed wages is that Wuhan Dangdai Group, the parent company of Liangjiang Club, no longer invests, that is to say, the management does not want to spend any more money on the team.
A player told The Paper, “There is no way to support the family without paying money. There is really no way to be forced to this level. It has reached its limit.”
“The pressure is very high. Some staff can’t sleep and can only sleep by taking medicine. The mental pressure is so great that people feel a little dazed. Everyone’s emotions are here, and they have reached their limit.” The player said .
According to public information, in 2021, more than 10 of the 16 clubs in the Chinese Super League will owe wages. Before the dissolution of the Chongqing team, Tianjin Tianhai Club was dissolved in 2020, and the defending champion Jiangsu Football Club ceased operations in February 2021.
Responsible editor: Xu Menger#