Rival Chinese football fans unite against ‘neutral’ name rule and loss of identity
- Ultras groups from four Chinese Super League teams call on Chinese FA to allow historic corporate sponsors to remain part of their name
- ‘Different clubs have different history, you have to listen to the fans. Let the fans make the decision,’ says Tianjin Teda ultra
Fans of four of the Chinese Super League’s oldest clubs have banded together to oppose the Chinese Football Association’s impending rule that clubs need to drop corporate sponsors from their names and change to “neutral” titles.
The rival fan groups, led by supporters who consider themselves to be ultras, have appealed to the CFA to let the teams who have carried the same corporate sponsors since the 1990s keep their names intact for next season.
These four Chinese Super League teams – Tianjin Teda, Henan Jianye and the “China derby” rivals of Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua – along with China League One side Zhejiang Greentown, have written an open letter to the CFA.
“Football is a culture and a football club is not a simple enterprise, it is a cultural symbol of a city or a region,” the fan group wrote. The letter was titled, “Abandoning tradition is tantamount to cutting off our spiritual lifeline”.
“Your team is an emotional thing for the fans who stand on the terraces all year round,” the letter continued. “The team name, logo and colour are all part of it.”
