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City, who finished 15th last year to retain
their place in China's top flight, are one of eight teams who
competed in the country's professional pyramid last season to be
disqualified ahead of the 2023 campaign.
They were absent from a Chinese Football Association list issued
on Wednesday detailing the 48 clubs eligible to play in the
country's three-tier professional set-up in the upcoming season,
which is expected to start on April 15.
Wuhan Yangtze and Hebei FC, who were both relegated from the CSL
last year, were excluded, as were second-tier outfits Kunshan
FC, Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic, Zibo Cuju, Beijing BSU and
Xinjiang Tianshan Show Leopards.
City confirmed on social media that they would suspend
operations, joining a growing list of clubs who have floundered
since the end of the league's boom years, when high-profile
players and coaches were lured by huge salaries.
Jiangsu FC were disbanded just months after winning the 2020 CSL
title while former Asian champions Guangzhou FC are among those
who have laboured to stay afloat.
Chinese clubs previously attracted some of the sport's leading
talent including World Cup winning coaches Marcello Lippi and
Luiz Felipe Scolari, while also competing with the world's
wealthiest clubs to acquire elite players.
Shanghai SIPG - now known as Shanghai Port - signed Brazil
internationals Oscar and Hulk for a combined outlay of 110
million euros ($119.13 million) in 2016, the same year Argentine
Ezequiel Lavezzi became one of the world's best paid players
when he signed for Hebei FC.
However, a crackdown by authorities on debt accumulation within
the private sector plus the economic impact of the COVID-19
pandemic put many clubs under significant financial strain.
($1 = 0.9234 euros)
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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