Early this morning, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) publicly released a notice of severe penalties against some professional soccer clubs for wage arrears. Hebei and Wuhan Changjiang have been deducted 3 points each for defaulting on salary payments this season. As a result, Hebei has zero points and is at the bottom of the league, while Wuhan Changjiang has 15 points, the same as Guangzhou, and is in 15th place.
In order to effectively solve the problem of salary arrears of professional soccer clubs, the CFA issued a notice on the work related to the 2022 season of the Chinese Super League, the Chinese First Division and the Chinese Second Division as early as April 2, 2022 (Soccer Zi (2022) No. 121), stipulating that clubs had to pay back at least 30% of the salary arrears before July 31st.
Immediately after that, on July 19, the FA issued a supplementary notice on the implementation of league-related policies (Football Word (2022) July 19) and publicly accepted complaints from those concerned (Notice No. 297).
After receiving the summary table of salary arrears from the professional soccer clubs and the complaint materials of the salary arrears personnel, the CFA carried out meticulous comparison and verification, and determined the specific amount of salary arrears with the relevant clubs.
After confirming the total amount of wages in arrears, the FA requested the relevant clubs to submit proof of repayment and conduct a preliminary review.On August 26, the FA sent a letter to the relevant clubs, restricting them to providing supplementary materials and proof of payment before August 29th.
The review results showed that Hebei Football Club, Wuhan Changjiang Football Club and Hunan Xiangtao Football Club failed to follow the requirements. Accordingly, based on the notice on the work related to the 2022 Chinese Super League, China First Division League and China Second Division League, the Football Association decided to deduct 3 points from the league points of the above three clubs for the 2022 season.
The CFA emphasized that all professional soccer clubs must attach great importance to and resolve the problem of salary arrears. Clubs that do not implement the requirements of the notice, once verified, will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
