Shenzhen Jianlibao's bid for their first major trophy is being undermined by a cash crisis and doubts over the parent company's commitment to the sport as the second half of the Siemens Mobile Chinese Super League resumes with the leaders visiting reigning champions Shanghai Shenhua tomorrow.
Matters came to a head last month when Zhang Hai resigned as chairman of the Jianlibao Group and relinquished his place on the Shenzhen Jianlibao board. Among the biggest criticisms that led to the 30-year-old tycoon's departure was that he had wasted too much money on football.
Meanwhile, the Post has learned that Shenzhen Jianlibao have fallen far behind on their payment of wages and bonuses to players and staff.
'I can confirm that there have been problems and a lot of [payments are in] arrears,' said one football club employee. 'Salaries are a considerable number of months in arrears as are bonuses. People are not happy with the situation the club is in. It has always had a good financial record but this year has been quite difficult.'
The situation at fifth-placed Liaoning appears to be even more uncertain, following Zhang's removal from running the Jianlibao Group.
Zhang is said to have bought a controlling interest in the Beijing Jiahua group, which is Liaoning's leading shareholder, earlier this year. The exact nature of the role played by the young entrepreneur and whether the Jianlibao Group was involved in the investment has been a matter of great conjecture, but since Zhang was forced out at Jianlibao, the club's financial position is reported to have become dire.
Chinese football website sinosoc.com quoted general manager Lu Feng as saying the players' salaries hadn't been paid since May and that they had received only one of their scheduled bonus payments.