Source: Xinhua News Agency   

Author: Jia Wenjun

Special sports news of Xinhua News Agency (author: Jia Wenjun): For Guangzhou Football Team degraded for involving in the scandal of football fraud, March 1 is the date of new birth — Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club Guangzhou Automobile Team declared its setup on March 1 in Guangzhou.

After successfully creating the first professional volleyball club in the country last year which entered Chinese series A league with the success of all victories in the series B league games in the same year creating an Evergrande miracle, Evergrande Group entered the football field in a high profile this time.

In the agreement-signing ceremony that day, Evergrande Group bought out all shares of Guangzhou Football Club with 100 million yuan.  On the same day, Guangzhou Football Development Centre signed the agreement on the title sponsorship for Guangzhou Football Team with Guangzhou Automobile Group with the term of one year and the sponsorship amount of 25 million yuan.

Mr. Liu Jiangnan, the chief of Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Sports, said that the new club and new players shall change the bad habits, unite together, and train diligently, so as to rally the stately appearance of Guangzhou Football with the first-class professional ethics and at the first-class competitive level. Moreover, the team shall strictly follow the guiding policy of “facing the reality, review deeply, learning from mistakes, radically reform, rally the forces, and develop in a healthy way”, so as to guarantee the stable development of Guangzhou Football Team.

Xu Jiayin, chairman of the board of directors of Evergrande Group said: “In the downturn of Guangzhou Football Team, Evergrande Group has the responsibility and obligation to help Guangzhou Football Team return to the peak, to let the football market of Guangzhou become hot again, to build the team for Guangzhou football fans, and to make contribution for Chinese football for a higher stage of development.”

Xu Jiayin said: “After Evergrande becomes the boss of Guangzhou Football Team, the first goal of the club is to perform well in the games of Chinese series A league, and try to return to the premier league as early as possible; moreover, the construction of the youth team and the teenager team shall be successfully carried out.”

Last year, after setting up Evergrande Women Volleyball Team, Evergrande Group spared no money in inviting Lang Ping, an international coach, to coach the team and employing several players of the “golden generation” in the volleyball circle of China and even several foreign aid players from the USA. In the very year, the team was finally upgraded to Chinese series A league from series B league, creating the “Evergrande miracle”. This series of “master stroke” of Evergrande has brought good demonstration effect to the volleyball circle.

When being asked whether there would be any “big action” of Evergrande Group in the introduction of foreign aid players including coaches, Xu Jiayin said: “our regular style of work is to be the best.”

It is reported that the goal of the new club is not only to return to the premier league, but also to play games in the AFC as the long-term goal.

Evergrande Group remitted 20 million yuan to the club in the morning of March 1 for paying the salaries and bonus to the players of the club, and solving some historic problems of the club.

However, because Evergrande had no relevant experience in managing a football club, Guangzhou Football Association would assign personnel for providing great assistance in the management of the team in this competition season.

Influential new boss and title sponsor and the investment of over one hundred million yuan make Guangzhou Football Team walk out f the shadow of degradation.

Mr. Peng Weiguo, the present interim leader of the coaching group of Guangzhou Football Team, said that he would try all his best to lead Guangzhou Football Team to return to the premier league in the shortest time.