Opinion | Alexandre Pato leaving, stadium signs dragged down, club name changed – owner’s arrest sees Tianjin Quanjian airbrush history

Tianjin Quanjian’s fate has brought the issue of club ownership in Chinese football back to the fore. Following the arrest of pharmaceutical giant Quanjian Group chairman Shu Yuhui and 17 other members of the company the fall of their football club has been swift.

The signs at the stadium have been dragged down and the name has been changed as the club looks to airbrush its history.

Tianjin Quanjian is no more, long live Tianjin Tianhai. The renamed club is under the control of the local sports bureau for the foreseeable future.

While Shu and his fellow purveyors of magic insoles await their fate under the Chinese legal system, sport has moved swiftly with the Tianjin Quanjian table tennis team the first to drop the name.

Surely it is only a matter of time before Dalian Quanjian, champions of the Chinese Women’s Super League for the last three seasons, are dragged into the maelstrom.