On January 6th, Beijing time, the Chinese Football Association officially announced the admission list for the 2025 season of China's professional football three-level league. The "eight-time champion" Guangzhou team did not obtain the qualification for admission, and the other two teams that failed to gain admission were the Cangzhou Mighty Lions and Hunan Xiangtao. Among them, the Guangzhou team is undoubtedly the most regrettable.
The Guangzhou team was established in 1954 and has won a total of 17 championship trophies since the professionalization of Chinese football, including eight Chinese Super League titles, two AFC Champions League titles, two FA Cup titles, four Super Cup titles, and one Chinese League One title. From Sun God to Geely, Xiangxue, Ri Zhi Quan, Guangyao, and then Evergrande, back to the name Guangzhou team, the Guangzhou team has experienced relegation from Jia A, relegation battle in Jia B, promotion to the top league, involvement in match-fixing relegation, and later becoming the eight-time champion of the Chinese Super League and winning the AFC Champions League twice, accumulating a huge fan base over the years.
Previously, due to serious problems with the parent company's operations and heavy debts, the Guangzhou team could only rely on young players from the Evergrande Football School to compete in the league in recent years. Last season, the Guangzhou team finished third in the Chinese League One, just one step away from promotion. In the last home game of last season at Huadu Stadium, fans held up a banner reading "Only 30 years away from a century-old team with pure bloodline."
If there is no "last-minute rescue," the Guangzhou team will miss the new season of Chinese professional football leagues and may even be disbanded. If the Guangzhou team is disbanded, its 70-year history will come to an end this year. Previously, Liaoning, the "ten-time champion" of Chinese football established in 1953, was dissolved in its 67th year, another "eight-time champion" Dalian, established in 1983, ended its journey in its 30th year, and Jiangsu, established in 1958, "ceased operations" after winning the Chinese Super League in its 63rd year...
For two seasons, the Guangzhou team has been "self-rescuing," but unfortunately, it "failed" this year.
After the tide of "gold football" receded, the Guangzhou team was "the first to bear the brunt." At the beginning of 2024, the Guangzhou team faced the "life-and-death juncture" of entry, and the help of the fans played a very key role. Relying on the club's online and offline sales and rental of trophies and other self-help methods, the Guangzhou team raised some of the arrears and finally "made it through" to participate in the 2024 season of the Chinese League One.
When the Guangzhou team faced the entry hurdle of the new season again, in order to raise funds to deal with the "entry" gap of more than 10 million yuan, from December 13th to December 17th, the Guangzhou team launched a five-day offline special sale activity. These five days truly made people feel the power of the fans and moved by the loyalty of the fans. For the Guangzhou team to "survive," the fans spared no effort. Some fans spent 2024 yuan to buy the Guangzhou team's 2024 season Chinese League One runner-up medal; some fans bought the Guangzhou team's Chinese Super League championship medal and paid 6666 yuan on the spot; some fans bought Cristiano Ronaldo's signed football for 7777 yuan; and many fans paid 8888 yuan to buy the whole team's signature 2024 season jersey...
If it were not for the huge historical debt, the Guangzhou team has actually embarked on the path of "marketization" and "communityization," relying on fans to generate income through tickets, jerseys, and peripheral souvenirs, following the survival path of small and medium-sized clubs in foreign professional leagues. Unfortunately, the Guangzhou team's self-help this time failed.
FA Spokesperson: Strict Admission Standards Will Be Thoroughly Implemented
According to a report by the China Sports Daily, the spokesperson for the Chinese Football Association accepted an interview with the newspaper for the first time to discuss the current admission situation.
The spokesperson stated that the most important aspect of the admission review is the repayment of debts. The special group, in accordance with the admission procedures, conducted a detailed investigation into cases involving unpaid wages under FIFA's ban and domestic disputes and arbitration cases, and released an official appeal channel to accept social supervision and avoid any problems. This year's admission review, the Chinese Football Association will thoroughly implement a strict tone, clearly requiring clubs that have properly resolved cases to provide complete payment vouchers to avoid individual clubs having a侥幸心理trying to "slip through."
The three clubs that failed to obtain admission qualifications are mainly based on the following three reasons: First, according to the payment vouchers provided by the clubs for international and domestic unpaid wage ban cases and domestic disputes and arbitration cases, these three clubs have serious problems with insufficient payment ratios; Second, regarding complaints during the admission public notice period, some clubs have unresolved reasonable complaints from creditors; Third, according to a comprehensive investigation of the operating risks of the clubs, some clubs have been listed as untrustworthy executors and have not provided sufficient evidence materials to prove that the clubs themselves have the ability to cope with operating risks or repay debts.
In addition, to ensure that the admission work is fair, compliant, and accurate, the Chinese Football Association introduced external legal institutions for the first time to evaluate the above three clubs. After the evaluation, it was found that the above three clubs do not meet the mandatory standards in the admission regulations, so the Chinese Football Association decided not to admit them for the 2025 season.
Parting and reunion have their times. Even if we "prefer to choose to hold on and not let go," who can the fans accompany to "watch the flowing water"? We are destined to bid farewell to another old and strong team in Chinese football, with a thousand regrets and a myriad of helplessness. Because we have experienced parting, we deeply understand such pain.