On October 26, a piece of news about the Hebei Football Salon's suspension of work and production fermented in the network. An official notice document pointed out that due to the operating funds are tight, the stock reform work suffered a hold-up, the salon since that day to suspend all operational activities, into the state of vacation. Up to now, Hebei team officials have not yet made an official response to this news, however, a number of media outlets have confirmed the authenticity of the notice.
Tracing back to the beginning of the season, Hebei team has been in deep operational difficulties, including players, including members of the club's internal members repeatedly issued a "help" signal to the public. Club leader Lang Zheng revealed that the coaching team had to pay some of the expenses to ensure the team's normal participation. Despite this, the Hebei team has achieved a remarkable record of 6 wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats in the completed Chinese Super League matches, and finished fourth in the Suzhou division of the championship group.
According to outside sources, only relying on the coaching staff and players of the "self-help" action, the team to maintain operations is not easy. According to some sources, the salon is now temporarily located in Langfang stadium office, need to bear the cost of water and electricity. However, the Hebei team has not even been able to pay the utility bills recently.
Hebei is not the first club to suffer a work stoppage this year, as Jiangsu officially announced on February 28th that it was suspending the operations of its teams and seeking outside assistance in the meantime. Despite the eventual dissolution of the team, Hebei and Jiangsu are not in the same situation, and the possibility of Hebei withdrawing from the Chinese Super League after failing to solve its operational problems still cannot be ruled out.
Fortunately, the salon is still actively seeking assistance from Langfang Sports Bureau and other departments, with a view to resuming work and resuming normal operation as soon as possible. Drawing on the experience of the Songshan Dragon Gate in Henan and the Chongqing team, government-led and corporate funding is indeed a viable path. However, the extent of support that the Sports Bureau can provide is still unknown. Tianjin Tianhai and other disbanded clubs are a lesson from the past.
Once the Hebei team withdrew from the Super League, not only will it have a profound impact on the next Super League season, but it will also bring a lot of challenges to the promotion and relegation of the Super League and League One next season. At the end of last year, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) made it clear that the 2022 season would see the expansion of the Chinese Super League to 18 teams, however, a number of teams are currently facing difficulties, and whether the Chinese Super League will be able to "recruit" so many clubs is still an unresolved issue.
