Recently, Tianjin Teda Football Club, which has been retired from the stage, once again became the focus of public opinion. With the former club chairman Dong Wensheng, former assistant coach Wang Xiao and Chi Rongliang have been investigated, a series of little-known insiders gradually unveiled. Since the 2017 season, TEDA's succession of internal and external reinforcement changes, full of puzzling strange operation. Now, let's find out what happened and look back at the past of TEDA in those years.
Internet whistleblower letter makes waves after two nods from Xinhua News Agency
After Tianjin TEDA suffered back-to-back defeats last season, ending the first phase of the competition with 3 draws and 11 losses, the central media Xinhua News Agency criticized it with two public name-dropping. The article pointed out that TEDA had invested a huge 3 billion yuan in the last three years, but frequently wasted the money, pointing directly to the chaos and ineffective management of the club.
Xinhua also revealed that TEDA's introduction of internal and external reinforcements is mainly handled by two brokers, which may involve transfer of benefits and corruption. Players have reported that they may not get a chance to play even if they perform well in training, and that playing often depends on connections. In addition, the distribution of winning bonuses is also controversial.
Although TEDA completed the relegation miracle by beating Shenzhen 3-1 at the end of the season, many problems have not been solved. The team's announcement of its exit was followed by a massive delay in the payment of players' salaries. Many players, including foreigner Luis Suarez, who joined the team from Porto, posted on social media to ask for their salaries and revealed that former manager Stielike received his unpaid salary only after he complained to FIFA.
By the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, a real-name whistleblower letter appeared on the internet from none other than former TEDA FC chairman Dong Wensheng, alleging corruption involving a number of TEDA attraction corruption issues.
Three generals fall, old cases may be implicated
News of the denunciation of Dong Wensheng circulated anonymously on the Internet until Nov. 25, when Xinhua News Agency once again issued an article confirming that Dong Wensheng, the former chairman of Tianjin TEDA Football Club, was suspected of serious disciplinary violations and was currently undergoing inspection and investigation. The Audit Bureau was stationed at the club in March to audit all accounts. Meanwhile, news about former TEDA assistant coaches Wang Xiao and Chi Rongliang being investigated was also confirmed.
In terms of tenure, Dong Wensheng succeeded Gao Yingqin in July 2017 as the club's chairman and general manager. Chi Rongliang joined the team's coaching staff in 2016, while Wang Xiao served as an assistant coach and team leader until his departure in 2015 after retiring in 2010. This season he is in charge of Hebei Zhuoao in China B. The news of his removal has long been heard by the players. From this, it seems that Dong Wensheng has crossed paths with Chi Rongliang, but not with Wang Xiao, which has led fans to speculate that TEDA's problems may not be simple.
The number of foreign aiders had been nine, and Wagner got nearly 100 million for nothing
Since the start of the 2017 season, with the rise of the Chinese Super League's gold dollar storm, the TEDA team, which had been investing cautiously, has also begun to invest massively. At the beginning of the season, the team introduced Al Ahli's Evuna (7.25 million euros), the injured Ideye (12 million euros), former Ajax midfielder Gudeli (6 million euros), Chelsea's Mikel (£140,000 per week, free to join), and mid-season and high-priced loan Archie Mbeng. However, TEDA's record remained poor this season, and only barely managed to survive relegation after replacing four managers, Pacheco, Li Linsheng, Chi Rongliang (acting) and Strikers.
By the 2018 season, TEDA brought in Bastians and Jonathan, and the number of foreign aiders was once as high as nine. Previously, the high-priced introduction of Ideye, Evuna, Diagne, Montero and others in the absence of a position, and the player himself refused to terminate the contract, the club can only pay high salaries while loaning out until the expiration of the contract.
In the 2019 season, TEDA continued to attract reinforcements on a large scale, purchasing Wagner for 6 million euros with an annual salary of up to 7.5 million euros. However, only one year later, due to the epidemic factor, Wagner was unwilling to return to the Chinese Super League, and several media outlets claimed that TEDA paid a huge sum of nearly 100 million yuan to terminate the contract with the German. What's even more bizarre is that Wagner then announced his retirement, equivalent to TEDA's direct loss of nearly 100 million yuan.
Examples of such bizarre reinforcements for TEDA are not uncommon, such as before the 2020 season, when Guoan exchanged 20 million RMB plus Lei Tenglong for TEDA's newest international, Yang Fan, who suffered a serious injury shortly after his old injury in Tianjin and did not play a single minute for the team. After announcing their exit last season, all of TEDA's players became free agents, including Zheng Kaimu, Guo Hao, Huijiakang and Liu Yang, who all moved to other teams.
More truths are expected to surface one by one as time passes and this TIDE investigation takes place.
