Sponsor to sue AFC champion over shirt ad

WUHAN - Dongfeng Nissan, a sponsor of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is sueing the club for changing shirt sponsors during last Saturday's final game of the AFC Asian cup where the team was crowned as champion, the company stated on Monday.

Instead of promoting a model of Dongfeng Nissan's cars, the uniforms of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C's players showed the Chinese name of Evergrande Life, a new insurance branch of its majority shareholder Evergrande Real Estate Group.

The club changed the advertisement without an agreement from Dongfeng Nissan, who paid more than 100 million yuan (15.66 million U.S. dollars) for the team's shirts to carry its logo during all of its matches in the 2014-2015 season. It is a serious breach of contract and Dongfeng Nissan's rights, according to a statement from Dongfeng Nissan.

A joint-venture between Chinese and Japanese carmakers Dongfeng and Nissan, the company "has taken legal actions against the club," the statement said.

Dongfeng Nissan rejected the club's request to change its advertisement on Nov. 10. The club then stopped communication until the last minute before the match, when it notified the carmaker about the change by email.

Dongfeng Nissan then accused the club of breaching its contract on its company microblog after it won the championship. The post went viral and sparked controversy as thousands people criticized the club and its shareholders for lack of business integrity.

Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club declined requests for interviews on the matter and has not responded to the accusations yet.