In the middle of last year, Li Tie incident swept like a storm, so far more than half a year. Chen Xuyuan, Du Zhaocai and other important members of the Football Association, although affected, but the domestic soccer field "anti-corruption storm" seems to have tended to calm down. However, the problems of the CFA and the three-tier professional league have not disappeared.
In fact, the problems exposed by clubs in the current league are just the tip of the iceberg. As time passes, more dark secrets will gradually surface. Recently, Chinese Super League newcomer Nantong Zhiyun Club publicly disclosed the latest developments in the case of the team's investigated player.
The Nantong Zhiyun Club not only exposed the team's plight, but also exposed former team veteran Zhu Yifan's wrongdoings such as gambling and match-fixing. The club pointed the finger at the CFA, accusing its arbitration committee of inaction, which led to the recognition and execution of Zhu Yifan's yin-yang contract, causing the club to suffer up to 2.5 million yuan in losses.
Nantong Zhiyun's announcement briefly explains that two players were disqualified from the Chinese Super League for "cooperating with the investigation", while other details are closely related to Zhu Yifan's yin-yang contract.
In the announcement, Nantong Zhiyun emphasized that Zhu Yifan was suspected by the club of playing fake football after he was frequently involved in gambling, violated the team's ban, and brought his cell phone into the locker room privately while representing the team in the 2019 season in the First Division League. In addition, Zhu Yifan's training attitude was negative and his private life was chaotic. In view of these circumstances, the club decided to delegate the reserve team to Zhu Yifan and deduct his salary and bonus.
Against the above background, Zhu Yifan terminated his contract with Nantong Zhiyun in advance and signed a yin-yang contract with the former general manager of the club, suing Nantong Zhiyun to the FA. The Arbitration Committee of the Association considered that the clause on "settlement fee" in the contract had nothing to do with the soccer industry and ruled that the yin-yang contract was valid.
Zhu Yifan won the case and sued Nantong Zhiyun in the civil court, and the court finally ruled that Nantong Zhiyun had to pay him 2.5 million yuan "settlement fee".
Although the announcement of Nantong Zhiyun mentioned Zhu Yifan's involvement in gambling and playing fake football and the FA's inaction, whether the truth is completely so or not has yet to be further confirmed. However, what is indisputable is that Nantong Zhiyun Club has unreservedly exposed the family scandal and expressed its determination to fight with Zhu Yifan and the Football Association to the end.
For Chinese Super League clubs, 2.5 million RMB may not be a huge amount, but Nantong Zhiyun has made a great effort to safeguard its dignity and interests, and to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future. Whether other clubs will follow Nantong Zhiyun's example in the future, bravely exposing their family's scandals and resolutely confronting the FA, is still an open question.
It is worth mentioning that Zhu Yifan came from the youth training system of Beijing Guoan and played in Guoan for six seasons, and was the team's main midfielder. However, due to his private life, he had a "one-night stand" with a female fan and was expelled from the club after his contract expired. Therefore, it is not surprising that Nantong Zhiyun Club exposed his fake soccer and gambling behavior.
