20 | Wednesday, March 4, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY SPORTS SOCCER By SHI FUTIAN [email protected] It’s been a harsh winter for Chi- There’s a difference nese soccer, with shrinking budgets between Tianhai’s and severe financial problems forc- ing some clubs to fold and leaving situation and other many with an uncertain future. clubs that are facing Chinese Super League side Tian- jin Tianhai barely managed to avoid survival problems. relegation last season, ranking 14th Some players of other in the 16-team division, but the club’s top-flight future remains in clubs have gone doubt due to money troubles. unpaid, but we never Its business model is typical of many CSL clubs — relying heavily delay paying our on the investment of owners and players.” unable to generate significant reve- Li Weifeng, nue via marketing or endorsements Tianjin Tianhai head coach in the same way that elite European clubs can. The coffers have dwindled so “If the CFA had allowed, we could much at Tianhai that it failed to sign have still competed next season a single player during the winter with a full team. But we had to delay transfer window while it watched a paying the wages as we had no cash total of 13 players leave. flow,” Wang told Xinhua. Among the mass exodus, eight “Even if we sell all our assets, that players departed following the expi- would still not be enough to pay our ry of loan deals, including Brazilian players…we didn’t pay because we forward Alan, while three have been really didn’t have the money.” transferred to other clubs. Huang The CFA’s plans to expand the sec- Ruifeng left as a free agent, while ond-tier China League One from 16 Kwon Kyung-won has been loaned to to 18 clubs this year now look in tat- the K League 1 club Sangju Sangmu. ters, with the coronavirus outbreak Tianhai’s misery was compounded further complicating matters. when striker Sun Ke sustained a seri- Tianjin Tianhai head coach Li Weifeng (left) is hopeful his team can survive its current financial difficulties. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Wang has urged Chinese soccer to ous leg injury during winter training, remain focused on its long-term with the 30-year-old expected to be development and strengthening sidelined for at least six months. the game’s grassroots base. The shortage of investment and “Many in Chinese professional players have led many to speculate soccer want to profit instantly from that Tianhai may simply be unable Bleak winter leaves clubs zero and in a very short time, but to kick off the new season, which that’s impossible. We have to take has been delayed due to the corona- things step by step,” Wang added. virus outbreak. “How did foreign clubs grow? However, Tianhai head coach Li They started from a pitch, a coach Weifeng is bemused and a little and youth training. Nurturing play- angered by talk of his team’s antici- feeling the financial chill ers eventually generates income and pated demise. then they can form teams, starting “There’s a difference between Tianjin’s troubles typical of Chinese Super League’s cash­flow quagmire in low-level leagues. Tianhai’s situation and other clubs “But many Chinese bosses bought that are facing survival problems,” a first-tier team straightaway and Li was quoted by Tencent Sports. sponsible and disrespectful to the sign somebody during a transfer CFA regulations introduced last cial problems,” thepaper.cn reported. then subsequently invested in youth “Some players of other clubs have players who tried so hard last sea- window. Every team has its own October stipulate failure to pay sala- “So it’s still possible that more clubs training. Before the youth training gone unpaid, but we never delay son,” he said. troubles, that’s normal. That doesn’t ries on time is punishable by dis- will ‘disappear’ in the future”. Sich- could work out, the first-tier team paying our players. Li conceded Tianhai is in a precar- mean the club has no future.” qualification from the league. So the uan and Guangdong Southern Tigers might have already collapsed. “I’m very confused now. If the ious position and stressed his opin- For some clubs in the second and nine clubs — second-tier Sichuan, have officially gone out of business, “Chinese professional soccer media can be the judge then why do ions on the matter were not third tiers, however, the end has Shanghai Shenxin and Guangdong while Shanghai Shenxin is reported- needs big teams like Guangzhou we need the Chinese Football Asso- necessarily those of the club’s man- already arrived. Southern Tigers, and six third-tier ly continuing to operate but only to Evergrande and Beijing Guo’an. But ciation? What’s going on right now agement. In early February, the CFA teams — have effectively now quit help its players find new clubs. not everyone can be a big club. There is very unfair to our players.” “The club is facing some prob- announced that nine clubs had fail- the CFA’s professional leagues. Wang Qian, the deputy general must be small clubs to continuously Li also denied speculation that lems, but they can be solved,” he ed to submit documentation show- The overall picture could be even manager of the Southern Tigers, produce promising young players. the CFA could expel Tianhai from added. “And some are questioning ing they had fully paid the wages bleaker. “Even for many of those that told Xinhua that his club had tried The aim of the small clubs is not to next season’s CSL due to its financial why we did not sign new players. and bonuses of players, coaches and have submitted the wages confirma- desperately to find a solution to its win the championship all the time. woes. “Such rumors are very irre- There’s no rule that a team must staff in 2019. tion form, they still face other finan- problem. They need to survive and profit.” Postponements could boost China’s World Cup hopes By SHI FUTIAN in Thailand, before facing the Philip- The postponement of China’s qual- makes sense for Li as he settles into on loan at Tianjin Tianhai, reportedly alone as a precaution. The games will pines and Syria on June 4 and 9. ifiers would buy precious time for his demanding new role. recently completing the naturaliza- be staged behind closed doors, with Team China’s virus-affected bid to However, Titan Sports reported on coach Li, who has already faced criti- Playing the qualifiers later in the tion process. no journalists or spectators present. qualify for the 2022 World Cup Monday that the Asian Football Con- cism over his squad selection for the year raises the possibility that Li Next month’s qualifiers were The CFA has been told Li’s squad would be boosted by a longer prepa- federation is considering postponing Maldives and Guam matches. could have more naturalized stars to moved from China to Thailand due to will be monitored closely by a local ration as reports said that its those games until October and The omissions of Guangzhou Ever- choose from then. the coronavirus outbreak, but if the health department, even at its hotel, remaining qualifying matches could November due to the impact of the grande hotshot Wei Shihao and Bei- To date, Brazil-born forward Ai games are postponed, Li’s men could meaning proper training or warm-up be postponed until later in the year. virus epidemic across the continent. jing Guo’an defender Li Ke in favor of Kesen (aka Elkeson) and England- possibly win back home advantage matches against local teams will be Since being appointed national China is eight points adrift of four uncapped Wuhan Zall players born Li Ke (aka Nico Yennaris) are the and avoid the logistical headaches impossible. team head coach in January, Li Tie has Group A leader Syria and only leads have puzzled many fans, who have only two naturalized players to have that currently await them. All things considered, postponing only managed to assemble his squad third-place Philippines on goal differ- accused Li of favoritism towards to been capped by China. However, the Beijing Youth Daily reported that the qualifiers would appear to be a twice for training, with his plans com- ence. The eight group winners and his former club Wuhan. Chinese Football Association has Thailand has stipulated that all mem- favorable option for Team China as it plicated by the coronavirus outbreak. four best second-place finishers will Some observers have argued that, been working on adding to their bers of Team China should enter and looks to reach its first World Cup China is scheduled to face the Mal- then enter a second phase of Asian with limited time on his hands, using ranks, with Evergrande’s Brazilian leave the country together, while no finals since its solitary appearance in dives and Guam on March 26 and 31 qualifying. familiar tactics and familiar players forward Alan, who spent last season individual will be allowed to travel the 2002 edition. Digest VOLLEYBALL SOCCER Arteta heaps praise GOLF last minute to withdraw because of BASKETBALL Zhu adds another MVP UEFA ‘in hands of on young Gunners Dustin decides to give concerns over the Zika virus. Miami does double award to collection authorities’ over virus Tokyo Olympics a miss over high-flying Bucks Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said TENNIS Zhu Ting was European soccer’s governing he was happy to take the risk of play- On the fence The Miami Heat on Monday body UEFA says decisions over ing his youngsters in the FA Cup after about the Olym- Kunming Open called stand alone, the named the Chi- whether to cancel matches — they helped seal a 2-0 victory at pics at the start of off due to coronavirus first team to beat nese Women’s including playoffs for the upcoming Portsmouth on Monday that secured the year, Dustin The Kunming Open, scheduled to the Milwaukee Super League’s Euro 2020 finals — due to the coro- a place in the quarterfinals of the Johnson has now take place from April 27-May 3 in Bucks twice this Most Valuable navirus will be made by govern- competition.