CHANGCHUN, China, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Yanbian Fude Football Club officially declared bankruptcy and dissolution on Tuesday, ending a four-year spell for the club.
Founded in 2015, the club has not received any funds from its sponsors Fude Holdings after the first injection of 170 million RMB (about 25.4 million U.S. dollars) in 2016, and owes 220 million RMB (32.9 million) in taxes.
Although Fude Football Club went bankrupt, it does not mean that Yanbian's football has come to an end.
"A lot of local people in Yanbian love the sport of football. This place has a sound football training system. I believe that football in Yanbian will be able to overcome difficulties and turn the tide," said Jin Songtian, Director of Yanbian Bureau of Sports.
Yanbian Football Association and Yanbian Bureau of Sports will keep the players from Yanbian Fude's youth teams born in 1999 and in 2000, and all the other players, without contracts. A new team will compete in the CMCL, the fourth tier league in China.
Fude Holdings promised to provide 200 million RMB annually for the club until 2020, but the club got no check after 2017.
For two consecutive years, the club had to sell players, season dividends, and use ticket revenue to stay in operation, and the provincial governments of Jilin and Yanbian also gave their support.
In August 2017, the tax department of Yanji City found that the Fude Club had an undeclared tax of 130 million RMB, which had accumulated to 220 million RMB as of last December.
Yanbian Fude's predecessor was Jilin Football Team, founded in 1955. The team is mainly composed of Korean ethnicity players. It is well known for its fierce, tenacious and all-round attack and defense.
