The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has rejected a takeover bid for Chongqing Lifan, casting the future of the newly promoted soccer club into doubt.
Chongqing Lifan, who finished as champions in China's second-tier league and is set to compete in the Chinese Super League (CSL) next season, had been sold to investment firm Huaxia Guorui earlier this month. But the takeover was not recognized by the CFA due to the new owner's allegedly poor qualifications, the state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.
"The new buyer must be operating well for at least three years and afford management of the soccer club, but Huaxia Guorui did not even do business in the past years, and Chongqing Lifan itself does not even know the details of the company," an unnamed CFA official told Xinhua.
"If the club still wants to play in the CSL, it should be handed back to the former owner."
Chongqing Lifan's previous owner, the motorcycle manufacturer Lifan Group, sold the club amid reports that the company is struggling financially.
"[Lifan Group's chairman] Yin Mingshan held on for such a long time, but this time he decided to give up because Lifan Group's got a financial problem and it will definitely cost enormously to run a CSL club right now," said Gao Tianxiong, a soccer agent tasked with finding a buyer for the club, said in an interview with Xinhua.
The club, who took four seasons to reach China's premier league, has also been experiencing internal problems.
Wang Baoshan, the coach in charge of the team's successful promotion to the CSL, has recently been fired with no successor in place. Xinhua also reports that the players have yet to be paid, sign new contracts, or even train properly.
"Usually we have already started prep work for new seasons the same time in the past years, but this year we did nothing, no training schedule and no salary," an anonymous player complained to the state news agency.
"We never saw the new owner," the player added.
On their part, Huaxia Guorui claims that they have already proven their financial strength to the CFA with sufficient documents. The company also claims to have sent representatives to the CFA for negotiation, but CFA officials refused to talk with them.
"Huaxia Guorui now owns the soccer club. Why should we give it back to Lifan Group? We will appeal to the Chinese General Administration of State Sports," a company official said to reporters.
The takeover comes at a time of renewed interest in Chinese soccer, with more and more investors trying to replicate the success of the Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao club, who won four consecutive CSL titles and the AFC Champions League in 2013.