Suning Holdings Group immediately pulls the plug from Jiangsu FC. The club, which won the national championships of China in November last year, is disbanded due to the financial problems at Suning Group, the company that owns it. The women’s team and youth teams of Jiangsu FC (formerly Jiangsu Suning) have also been suspended with immediate effect. The message also causes unrest at Internazionale, as the club is part of the same holding.
Coverage follows just 108 days after Jiangsu took the first ever league title, beating Guangzhou Evergrande over two games in the Chinese Super League final: 0-0 and 1-2. The news does not come completely unexpectedly, because the owners had been looking for interested investors since the end of last year. Halfway through last season, the group was also discredited, when the players were not paid a salary for a month.
Suning Group has been hit hard by the corona crisis, as a result of which the company sees the need to divest the sports branch. In addition, there is also a marketing-technical reason that the holding company is withdrawing the hands of Jiangsu, because the Chinese association wants to prohibit company names from being involved in the club names with a new regulation. The hopes for the reigning national champion have not completely disappeared, because the new season in China will start in a month. Although Jiangsu is not yet registered, the team could still participate if a new investor is found in time.
Also in Italy, all news about the Suning Group, which is in financial storm, is closely monitored, although nothing is yet known about the consequences for Inter. In June 2016, 68.6 percent of the current Serie A leader was owned by the Chinese company, which paid 270 million euros for the share. The remaining shares are held by LionRock Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment fund. In Milan there have also been reports of financial problems for several months.
Jiangsu has been a leading club in China in recent years. In 2016, for example, the club attracted Alex Teixeira, for 50 million euros, and Ramires, for 28 million euros. Fabio Capello was for the selection between June 2017 and March 2018 and in 2019 the club narrowly missed the transfer of Gareth Bale.
There may be a second bankruptcy in the Chinese Super League in the coming days. Tianjin Teda is also in dire financial straits. The golden age of unlimited salaries has just ended in China. The Chinese Football Association imposed strict financial controls aimed at a sustainable financial model. A salary ceiling was also imposed