Cangzhou Lions Club has issued an open letter, attaching signatures from many players. At the same time, many players and staff have chosen to support the club under the Football Association. For a moment, whether Cangzhou Lions Club, which already has 60 million on its books, should pass the entry has become a focus of public opinion.
However, does money reaching the club's account equal solving wage arrears?
After Cangzhou Lions Club sent out an open letter, media quickly exposed that if it passes the entry, there will be a larger amount of funds than 60 million RMB transferred to the club's account. If this news is true, Cangzhou Lions Club, which has been short of money in recent years, may be able to get rid of financial difficulties in the new season. It is also because they saw 60 million RMB lying on the club's account that many players who were owed wages reached a reconciliation with the club over past salary issues.
If Cangzhou Lions Club solves the problem, it is naturally justified to pass the entry. However, the problem is that after the 60 million arrived on December 26th, it is still lying on the club's account, and it has not been used to pay back wages to the players in the past two days.
From December 18th, after the Football Association announced the second batch of completed debt-clearing list, many people including Zheng Kaimu publicly raised doubts. During the publicity period, the Football Association received 26 appeals about Cangzhou Lions Club.
The Football Association once sent a letter requiring Cangzhou Lions Club to complete all processing by 24:00 on December 25th. Regarding the reasons for not solving the problem, the club stated that it was unable to receive all the funds at once to solve the wage arrears. On December 15th, the club received 20 million yuan in advance, which was first used to resolve international lawsuits. On the afternoon of the 25th, the local authorities transferred 60 million yuan, and after going through the bank process, the club finally received the funds on the morning of the 26th, so Cangzhou Lions was unable to solve the related problems before the 25th.
In the open letter, Cangzhou Lions Club mentioned, "The club actually achieved the task of reaching an agreement with each of our players on the last day of the deadline set by the Football Association. If the funds only arrived one day late, and the club's entry is cancelled as a result, the team will definitely disband, and the hard work of countless club staff and players will go down the drain." If it is really because the 60 million funds arrived one day late, leading to the club being deprived of its Super League qualification, then against the background of massive wage arrears in Chinese professional football leagues in recent years, it indeed seems incredible and inhumane.
But in fact, the key to whether Cangzhou Lions Club can pass the entry does not lie in whether the 60 million funds arrived one day late or early. Instead, after arriving on December 26th, the 60 million is just lying on the club's account, and it has not been used to pay back wages to the players in the past two days.
The reason given by the club is that if this government money is used to make up for the arrears, but the entry is still not passed in the end, wouldn't it be empty-handed on both sides?
In short, the attitude of Cangzhou Lions Club is now very clear —— pass the entry.
So why do many players choose to reconcile with the club without receiving their arrears? On the one hand, it is because the 60 million on the club's account gives them hope; on the other hand, it also shows that many players are indeed kind, and they choose to believe in the promises given by the club again. However, no matter how the players support the club, or how the media hype it up, when the club has already made it clear that "entry means paying wages," it actually shows that —— at least so far, the players have not received their arrears, so Cangzhou Lions Club has not solved the wage arrears problem.
When the time point for the Football Association to announce the entry is repeatedly postponed, it has given the club enough time to solve the problem. And previously allowing all clubs to be on the repayment list also shows that the Football Association did not intend to set too high a threshold for clubs on the issue of entry! So whether the money arrives on the 25th or the 26th is not the key to whether Cangzhou Lions Club can pass the entry.
When the notice issued by the Football Association to Cangzhou Lions Club ends with the very vague expression of "otherwise it may bear the adverse consequences of not being admitted," it means —— even if the club returns the money to the players who are owed wages now and submits relevant repayment proof to the Chinese Football Association, the Football Association is unlikely to strictly control Cangzhou's entry.
Moreover, it is natural law to repay debts. No matter whether Cangzhou Lions Club can pass the entry or not, the money owed to the players should be repaid. Even though in recent years, there have indeed been many clubs that disbanded and left players with no way to claim wages, not all clubs have used dissolution to avoid paying arrears. For example, Tianjin Tianhai disbanded in May 2020, but immediately after dissolution, the club paid the players' wages for the first two months of 2020. Another example is Dalian Pro Club, which disbanded at the beginning of the year and also paid the players a sum of money after dissolution.
Therefore, when Cangzhou Lions Club takes the attitude of "give me entry and I'll pay wages," can it also be interpreted as, if the club does not obtain entry, it may not pay the arrears? If so, what is the difference between them and many dishonest clubs?
Moreover, if the Football Association allows Cangzhou, which has not resolved the wage arrears issue, to pass the entry this time, does it also exist the possibility of "passing the entry but ultimately not fulfilling"? If it really comes to this, will those voices now shouting for Cangzhou's entry come out to scold the Football Association later, asking how Cangzhou was allowed to pass the entry?
Therefore, if Cangzhou Lions Club really wants to keep this Super League qualification, what it should do most now is to pay the arrears to the players first!