Nantong Zhiyun Club recently suffered an unprecedented storm. The player Zhu Yifan suddenly announced the early termination of his contract with the team and sued Nantong Zhiyun FC to the CFA with an allegedly forged contract. The CFA Arbitration Committee ruled that the terms of the contract, regarding the "settlement fee", were out of line with the soccer industry and chose to remain silent on this type of breach of contract. This decision allowed Zhu Yifan's so-called "yin and yang contract" to be established.
Zhu Yifan then sued the Nantong Zhiyun club to the civil court, and the court ruled that Nantong Zhiyun had to pay him a "settlement fee" of up to 2.5 million yuan. Despite the fact that Nantong Zhiyun revealed Zhu Yifan's alleged gambling and match-fixing in their announcement, the FA's attitude towards this and the comprehensiveness of the announcement is still questionable. Nantong Zhiyun Club has clearly publicized its own "family scandal" in this incident, and expressed its confrontation with Zhu Yifan and the FA.
For a Chinese Super League club, 2.5 million dollars may not be a huge sum of money, but Nantong Zhiyun has done everything it can to protect its dignity and long-term interests. Whether other clubs in the future will be as decisive as Nantong Zhiyun in exposing their family's shame and fighting against the FA is still an unknown.
It is worth mentioning that Zhu Yifan was originally a member of Beijing Guoan's youth training system, and during his six seasons at Guoan, he was the team's core back. However, due to problems in his personal life, including a one-night stand with a female fan, Zhu Yifan was dismissed by Guoan after his contract expired. Therefore, it did not seem to be a surprise when the Nantong Zhiyun club exposed his gambling and match-fixing behavior...
