Korean media revealed:
Another Chinese soccer power has quietly fallen by the wayside.
The Chinese Super League powerhouse Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic Club announced on the 24th that it had closed its doors for business, and the team, which was born in 1995, finally drew a period in its history after nearly 30 years of spring and autumn.
According to local media reports, Chongqing's choice to close the club stems from its insurmountable financial woes. Faced with such severe financial pressure, the club could not even afford to pay its staff and players.
Chongqing are no strangers to Korean fans, with current head coach Jang Wailong, Lee Jang-soo, who was in charge between 1998 and 2001, and Jung Woo-young, who also played for the team.
Currently, the Chinese Super League is in deep trouble. In the past, companies have invested generously under the banner of soccer, however, with the double whammy of the real estate bubble and the new crown epidemic, the parent company that owns the soccer team is caught in the storm.
Cuts in funding from the parent company have led to more and more clubs not even being able to maintain player salaries, which in turn has pulled down the overall standard of our league.
The Chinese Super League (CSL) teams have had a disappointing run in this year's Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL), with all the teams failing to make it out of the group stage.
In particular, the dissolution of last year's defending champions, Jiangsu Suning, brought this crisis to a head.
