Former Shanghai SIPG coach Xie Hui resigns after ‘US$1.8 billion’ Chinese Super League title budget claim video backlash

Former Shanghai SIPG assistant coach suspended by Nantong Zhiyun after secret video discussing budget spending shared

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Former China footballer Xie Hui was assistant coach of Shanghai SIPG when they claimed the Super League title. Photo: Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images

Published: 3:45pm, 23 Aug 2021Updated: 8:37pm, 23 Aug 2021

Chinese football coach Xie Hui has resigned following the leaked video where he was secretly filmed making drunken claims about club spending, including that Shanghai SIPG spent US$1.8 billion to win the 2018 Chinese Super League.

Xie, who was Shanghai SIPG coach at the time they won the CSL title and Chinese FA Super Cup in 2019, was suspended by his China League One side Nantong Zhiyun after the video was shared last week.

Reports in Chinese media said that the club received a phone call applying pressure on them to act on the video with them suspending the coach last Wednesday, the same day the video was widely shared. Nantong Zhiyun subsequently lost their next match 6-0.

Xie announced his resignation via his Weibo account on Sunday.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to resign as the head coach of Nantong Zhiyun Football Club,” he wrote on the Twitter-like social media site.