Recently, Inter Milan Football Club President Zhang Kangyang posted on social media to celebrate his team's Coppa Italia title, lamenting, "Finally, we hold this trophy in our hands again, but this is not the end." In the face of Chairman Zhang's heartfelt words, many former Suning players, including China's national soccer team captain Wu Xi, have retweeted and left messages to Suning FC to openly demand their outstanding salaries.
With the dissolution of Suning FC and Zhang Kangyang now the president of AC Milan, Suning Group has yet to make a public response on the matter. According to Shanghai's Oriental Sports Daily, in the settlement agreement signed between the players and Suning, Suning promised to pay the outstanding salaries at a specific point in time last year. However, months have passed since the settlement agreement was signed, and the players have yet to receive their paychecks.
In the face of this predicament, on March 10th, the lawsuit between Zhou Yun, who has retired, and Suning FC was heard in Nanjing Yuhuatai District People's Court. In addition, the lawsuits of players including Yang Jiawei, Nan Xiaoheng and assistant coach Cao Rui were also heard in the same court. Some of the players have also filed lawsuits outside of Nanjing, and some of these cases are still waiting to be heard, while others have already entered higher court proceedings.
Unlike the previous Suning club staff collective wage collection, the players mainly take individual action to recover their salary. Among them, Zhou Yun, Ji Xiang and Gu Chao chose to retire after their contracts expired at the end of 2020, while Ji Xiang and Gu Chao joined other teams as free agents. Players with contracts, such as captain Wu Xi, had to give up two months' salary in 2021 in exchange for a transfer certificate issued by the club in order to continue their careers, thus gaining the opportunity to join other teams.
The amount of outstanding wages owed to the players is even more enormous compared to the total of $3 million in outstanding wages and compensation. What's more, some of the players were not only owed wages, but also had to advance more than 1 million yuan upfront after they were injured because the club could not afford the treatment and recovery costs. However, not only did they not wait for the reimbursement from the club, but they were instead met with the bad news of the club's dissolution.
