China League sides Yanbian and Liaoning face financial difficulties

China League sides, Yanbian Fude FC and Liaoning Hongyun FC are facing financial difficulties which may result in bankruptcy or not being able to register for the 2019 season. Both teams are located in northeastern China. 

It was disclosed by the football media “Football Newspaper” on Weibo yesterday that Yanbian Fude FC owe a large amount of tax and has no capital to run the club in the 2019 season. The club is said to be near bankruptcy. 

On the other hand, the football reporter Zhao Zhen revealed that the local government has not paid title sponsorship fees amounting to CNY160m to Liaoning Hongyun FC and that the club owes CNY70m in salaries to staff and players. January 12, 2019 is the deadline set up by the Chinese Football Association to submit registration documents for the new season, including a declaration of full payment of player salaries. If Liaoning Hongyun FC cannot hand in the required documents, they are likely to be rejected from playing in the China League for the 2019 season. 

Liaoning Hongyun FC and Yanbian Fude FC ranked 8th and 10th respectively out of 16 China League clubs in the 2018 season. 

Another China League team in the northeastern region is Dalian Chaoyue FC. The club finished 15th in 2018 and will be relegated to C2L next season. The only remaining football team from the north east in China League is Heilongjiang FC who ranked 7th in last season. 

References: Zuqiu de Kuaile, Qiu Yuan Zi Fang

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick