BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Baoding Yingli Yitong FC is to take legal action against the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to recover losses allegedly resulting from the latter's mismanagement, the club's investor Meng Yongqiang said on Wednesday.
Meng on Wednesday wrote on his Weibo account: "Baoding Yingli Yitong FC today initiated legal proceedings to seek compensation from the CFA, whose mismanagement has infringed on the club's interests and led to [financial] loss."
He did not elaborate on the details of the legal proceedings on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.
Meng announced that his club had decided to apply to the CFA for withdrawal from China's third-tier professional league on February 13, though it had reversed its decision one day later, saying the CFA had no right to authorize the club's pullout.
Meng then said that if the CFA revoked his club's eligibility to join this season's league, he would lodge a lawsuit against it.
He admitted on Weibo that his club owed nine million yuan (about 1.3 million U.S. dollars) in unpaid salaries or bonuses to the club's players and other employees.
Nine clubs have been disqualified by the CFA from taking part in this season's Chinese football leagues - which have been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak - for failing to pay their players and staff in full for the 2019 season.
The CFA announced last October that failure to pay salaries on time would result in disqualification from the following season's professional leagues.
