Liaoning FC players threaten to sue club over forgery allegations

BEIJING - Several Liaoning Hongyun players have threatened to sue their club over accusations of signature forgery if the Chinese Football Association (CFA) continue to overlook their plea.

An unnamed Liaoning player told Chinese media that they had notified the CFA that second-tier side Liaoning had forged eight players' signatures on a document submitted to the CFA to confirm full payment of employee wages and bonuses for 2019.

According to a report by Soccer News on Sunday, the player said they had urged the CFA to take action, saying that their pleas had fallen on deaf ears. The player added that if the CFA would not help them, they would have no other option but turn to legal authorities.

A CFA source told Xinhua on Monday that they were still working on this case. "It involves some investigation and takes time," the source said.

The Shenyang-based club submitted the document to the CFA before the February 3 deadline, with nine other clubs disqualified from taking part in the upcoming 2020 season for failing to do so.

The CFA announced last October that any club's failure to pay salaries of players, coaches and staff on time would result in disqualification from this season's league.

Liaoning Hongyun club captain Sang Yifei revealed last Wednesday that he and his teammates received no salary for the whole 2019 season.

"The players got no money for the whole year, but it is true that the club had no money to give us," he wrote on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.