Guangzhou FC, China's most successful football club, have not been granted permission to play professionally during the 2025 season due to financial issues.
The eight-time Chinese Super League (CSL) winners said they had been unable to pay off their debts and therefore did not meet the Chinese Football Association's (CFA) requirements to compete in the 2025 campaign.
“In order to gain entry into the Pro League for the new season, the club is working hard to move forward,” a club statement read. “However, we regret that the funds raised were not enough to pay off due to the heavy historical debt and that access was ultimately not granted. Here, we express our sincerest apologies to all those who care about and support Guangzhou Football Club.”
Guangzhou were not named in a list of 49 teams who had obtained a place in the CSL, China League One and China League Two for the 2025 season. Top flight side Cangzhou Mighty Lions and third-tier Hunan Billows were also not granted access.
The CFA said it would “continue to follow up on clubs that have not obtained admission qualifications due to unpaid wages and debts, and handle them in accordance with relevant regulations.”
Guangzhou were taken over by property developer the Evergrande Group in 2010, and this began a spell of domestic dominance, winning eight CSL titles between 2011 and 2019 and the AFC Champions League in 2013 and 2015.
The club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande, were at the forefront of the CSL's transfer spending spree in the 2010s. They signed Brazil international Paulinho from Tottenham Hotspur in 2015 and again from Barcelona in 2019, and paid a then CSL record fee of £25million to sign Jackson Martinez from Atletico Madrid in 2016.
The club counts World Cup-winning coaches Marcello Lippi and Luiz Felipe Scolari and 2006 Ballon d'Or winner Fabio Cannavaro among their former managers.
However, parent company Evergrande fell into severe financial difficulty and in January 2024 was ordered to liquidate after amassing over $300billion in debt.
Guangzhou have played their last two seasons in the second tier following relegation from the Super League in 2022.
(Zhong Zhi/Getty Images)