End of an Era: Guangzhou FC Banned from China’s Professional Football Over Debt Issues

• Guangzhou FC, China’s most successful football team, excluded from professional leagues due to overwhelming debt.
• The club, once dominant in the Chinese Super League and Asian Champions League, was relegated in 2022 amid financial struggles.
• Guangzhou’s planned $1.86 billion stadium project was canceled as Evergrande Real Estate Group faced massive liabilities.

China’s most successful football team and former Asian champions, Guangzhou FC has been excluded from the country’s professional leagues due to “heavy historical debt,” the club confirmed.

The decision marks the end of an era for the eight-time Chinese Super League (CSL) champions, who were once led by illustrious coaches Marcello Lippi and Fabio Cannavaro.

Eko Hot Blog gathered that Guangzhou’s fall comes amid a wave of club closures in China, with several teams, including fellow CSL champions Jiangsu Suning, also collapsing under debt in recent years.

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In a statement, Guangzhou FC, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande, explained, “The club tried various means to gain access to the professional league, but the funds we raised were insufficient to clear our heavy historical debt.”

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has excluded Guangzhou from its list of 49 teams for the 2025 professional league season.

Once a dominant force in Chinese football, Guangzhou won seven consecutive CSL titles from 2011 to 2017 and claimed two Asian Champions League trophies.

However, their fortunes declined after being relegated to China’s second tier in 2022, following financial troubles linked to their majority owner, Evergrande Real Estate Group, amid the country’s property market downturn. Their last title came in 2019.

During their peak years, Guangzhou made significant investments in players, breaking the Chinese transfer record several times, including a $46 million deal for striker Jackson Martinez from Atletico Madrid in 2016.

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The club also attracted high-profile managers such as Lippi, Cannavaro, and Luiz Felipe Scolari.

In 2020, Guangzhou began construction on a new $1.86 billion stadium with an 80,000-seat capacity, but the project was halted in 2022 as Evergrande’s liabilities reached $300 billion.

The club was rebranded as Guangzhou FC in 2021 due to new CFA rules banning team names linked to companies or sponsors.

Guangzhou finished third in the second-tier China League One in 2024, narrowly missing out on promotion. In their statement, the club expressed regret, saying, “We offer our sincerest apologies to fans and everyone who supported the club.”

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