On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xu Jiayin, the owner of Evergrande, was officially taken compulsory measures in accordance with the law on suspicion of illegal crimes.
When the moon is full, Lao Xu only has half his life left, and his team seems to be on the edge of the cliff?
Fortunately, this explosive news has not had much impact on the Guangzhou team for the time being. The eight-time champion is still training step by step to prepare for the last six rounds of the Chinese League One.
Before the incident happened, the team had already been mentally prepared for something happening to the boss. His presence or not did not make much difference to the club, because boss Xu’s investment in the team in the past two years was only this amount – zero.
- Funds
The night when the former richest man was officially announced, the Guangzhou team was on holiday. The Panyu base shrouded in darkness was completely silent. After the official characterization, the team did not make any temporary notification or arrangements for this matter.
Early the next morning, the players returned to the team for training as usual. The Panyu base was as usual. Under the sun and on the lawn, the sound of hitting balls, shouts, slapstick and cheers continued to linger in every corner of the stadium. At noon, the players packed their bags one after another, left the base talking and laughing, and celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival with their families.
Everything remains as usual, as if nothing happened. Unfortunately, happiness is always short-lived, and the cruel reality is about to come after the holidays.
“It is difficult for the club itself to pay wages. The wages for next month (October) need to wait for the money from the football school.” An insider said.
Liu Qian is currently the principal of Evergrande Football School and the chairman of the Guangzhou team. This female boss who graduated from Tsinghua University is at the helm of Evergrande Football. When the team is facing a crisis of blood loss, the football school has become an important source of survival for the club.
It is understood that the monthly salary of the Guangzhou team’s main players is generally around 15,000 yuan, and that of substitute players is around 8,000 yuan, without any bonuses. If we go forward four years, it would be unimaginable to put such a salary on Evergrande players.
For professional players who are living off their youth, such a salary is very low, but Guangzhou team players generally cherish the club and the Chinese League One platform.
Most of the players in the team are now directly trained by Evergrande Football School, plus some former players from the Guangzhou Football Association. Based on the relationship between their alma mater and the team, many talents are willing to play for the Guangzhou team with an income lower than that of amateur players. First.
Are amateur players profitable? indeed so. Especially in the Pearl River Delta region, many grassroots leagues and teams often spend a lot of money to invite many retired stars to participate.
For example, in Foshan Sanshui’s “La Liga” league, former international Rong Hao joined one of the teams and played a game for them, with an appearance fee of about 20,000 yuan.
Like Lu Lin, who has just retired, he often attends various amateur competitions in Guangdong, and his appearance fee for each game is about 10,000 yuan.
If the current players of the Guangzhou team play in these games, even if they are not as famous as the previous two international players, it is not difficult to get three to five thousand in a game. If the owner is happy, the winning bonus may be higher than the appearance fee.
- Next home
In 2021, after the Evergrande Group exploded, there was news that the Guangzhou team was expected to undergo a shareholding reform.
However, Boss Xu refused to let go of the team, which made the relevant departments leave in disgrace. In more than two years, the former richest man still controls the team, but his investment in the Guangzhou team has dropped from the previous 1 billion per year to 0.
From a rich young man to a pauper, overnight, the cold winter has arrived. The team is no longer a championship team, but is always facing a life and death hanging by a thread.
On the last day of 2022, the Guangzhou team was relegated from the Super League. The prosperity of the Eight-Crown King has finally become a dream. Soon, captain Wei Shihao and other international players left the team one after another, the boss stopped investing, and the management stopped caring. The Guangzhou team became an outcast in the visible corner.
At this moment, the Guangzhou team is just a stone’s throw away from the abyss on the edge of the cliff.
Fortunately, the team’s fate was saved. Shenzhen Football Team promptly repaid the Guangzhou team’s 20 million transfer arrears, barely allowing the team to pass the Chinese Football Association’s admission and once again play in the Chinese Football Association League.
At the beginning of the season, the Guangzhou team’s journey in the Chinese League One was not smooth, with no wins in 8 rounds and deep in the relegation zone. The team was in dire straits and its performance was deteriorating. Under this situation, the group decided to let Evergrande Football School take full control of the team.
In Evergrande’s football territory, the football school is currently a relatively good asset. They rely on various means such as leasing venues to successfully carry out business and take responsibility for their own profits and losses.
After taking over the club, Chairman Liu Qian’s first move at the competitive level was to change the coach and let the Spanish team from the football school take over the team directly. At the same time, the club owners must shoulder the marketing task of helping the team find a way to survive through open source, and the internal structure has also been adjusted. If Evergrande Football School had not taken over the club, the Guangzhou team might have fallen into the dilemma of wage arrears early on.
The takeover of the football academy gave the club a slight breather in survival. After the coaching change, the team won two games in a row and temporarily got out of the relegation zone. At that time, the club believed that it would have to bring in foreign players if it wanted to avoid relegation.
The chairman agrees with the coaching staff’s decision. If the team cannot maintain its position in the Chinese Premier League, it will also be a fatal blow to the management of the football school. More importantly, it is very cheap to find foreign aid now. With a monthly salary of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, you can find a good foreign aid.
Unfortunately, this decision was angrily vetoed by Xu Jiayin. Immediately afterwards, Boss Xu ordered the club to only use football school players. At the same time, every player must sign a five-year contract to renew. Not only is the salary in the contract low, there will be no salary increase in the five-year contract, which discourages many players who only want to play football and cherish the platform of the Guangzhou team.
In addition to firmly opposing the team’s introduction of foreign players, boss Xu has many opinions on many aspects of the club’s operations this year.
The team’s chest advertisement is the club’s most commercially valuable advertising space. Xu Jiayin had always insisted on naming the team “Hengchi Automobile” even though Hengchi Automobile Group repeatedly said it did not need it and there was no advertising money to give to the club. Such arbitrariness makes the club’s management difficult.
“In the past, the boss had many demands on the club. At that time, the group gave the team full support and rewards, so whatever the boss said was accepted. The club and the players thought it was not a big problem. But the situation of the team in the past two years is well known to everyone. The parent company didn’t give a penny, but it still asked for a lot.” There is a lot of resentment within the club.
- Life and death
The team has been half-dead for the past two years. When the boss was arrested, no one was too surprised.
“Anyway, everything is on track, finish the season first and then make plans. It has been so difficult in the past, and we have nothing to lose anymore,” said a Guangzhou club official.
In the past, if professional teams in other provinces and cities encountered situations like the Guangzhou team, the relevant local departments would intervene and even take over the team. Unfortunately, the team has missed the best opportunity to transfer, and Boss Xu’s fate has caused the team’s reputation and reputation to plummet.
No department cares about the Guangzhou team. The Provincial Football Association and the Municipal Football Association are making structural adjustments due to the match-fixing case in the 2022 Provincial Games. The team has become an orphan.
Ten years ago, these departments were proud of the Guangzhou team. Many of them were guests of Celestial Body, and they would come immediately if the team had any trouble. After 10 years, they pretend not to know you, and you are not under my control. Their biggest wish is not to disturb each other.
Other departments only care about the Guangzhou Shadow Leopards, which is jointly invested by seven major Guangzhou state-owned enterprises.
The good news is that Evergrande Football School launched the Football League Cup on National Day and is doing well. But this state is only “now”.
The official has not yet announced what criminal activities Xu Jiayin is involved in and how they will be dealt with in the future.
The football school is currently one of the few good assets of Evergrande Group. Once the relevant departments require Evergrande to sell off its assets to pay off debts, it is hard to say whether the football school can still operate independently. This may be the reason for the Guangzhou Football Club after Boss Xu was arrested. the greatest impact.
