Chinese Super League: once-dominant Liaoning face closure as players go unpaid
- Former high fliers Liaoning could go out of business as several other Chinese clubs have in recent times
Three decades ago Liaoning FC were the standard bearers of Chinese football, sweeping aside all before them domestically and across Asia, but their 67-year history may soon be consigned to the scrapheap as financial woes threaten to bring them down.
Six league titles in seven years, plus two Asian Club Championship final appearances, marked Liaoning out as one of the region’s top outfits but recent times have not been as kind.
Headline-grabbing transfer fees and mammoth salaries have lured some of the sport’s biggest names to China in recent seasons, even as authorities have sought to curb extravagance.
Regulations have continually been updated in a drive to stop clubs spending beyond their means and encourage owners to invest in development rather than big foreign names approaching the end of their careers.