The formerly powerful – and successful – club does not meet the requirements set by the Chinese Football Association to continue playing in the league.
""Due to heavy economic burdens from previous seasons, the club could not pay off all debts before the deadline. We express our sincere apologies to all supporters from the entire community and we appreciate the understanding and forgiveness from all fans very much." the club writes in a statement.
The club was previously called Guangzhou Evergrande and led the Chinese football revolution. Large sums were invested to attract international stars to China.
Brazilian Paulinho and coaches such as Italians Marcello Lippi and Fabio Cannavaro, as well as Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, were involved in Guangzhou winning the Chinese Super League eight times between 2011 and 2019.
The club also won the Asian Champions League in 2013 and 2015.
The crisis hit hard a few years ago, the stars left the club, and in 2022, relegation to the second division awaited.
Guangzhou's fate also affected Cangzhou and Hunan, two other clubs that did not meet the economic requirements set by the Football Association and were therefore excluded from league play.
