Tianjin Teda collapses in record transfer dispute

BEIJING - The uncertainty of Sun Ke's record transfer claimed the toll on Tianjin Teda as the club suffered its 3rd consecutive defeat by Henan Jianye 3-2 in the 16th round of the Chinese Super League on Sunday.

Only 8,700 audiences entered the Tianjin Water Dropping Stadium which had boasted of its most crowd of over 40,000 home fans to support Teda. And not all of them were supportive of the home team, with some even saying bluntly that they came to "witness a joke".

When visitors Jianye led Teda 3-1 in the 69th minute, some fans started to leave, shouting "Teda dismissed, leading officials out! ". Some fury fans even blocked the special channel for Tianjin club officials, stopping them from leaving for home for 40 minutes after the final whistle.

On June 18, Sun Ke set a transfer record for the Chinese players as the midfielder reportedly joined in Tianjin Teda from Jiangsu Sainty for 66 million yuan (10.6 million US dollars).

Yet, the conflict of interests between club Teda and its sponsor Quanjian becomes irreconcilable as the club refused to register for Sun since both sides failed to reach an agreement on the stock market accounting, and their cooperation might be terminated in the few days.

Teda said that Quanjian would take back investment and Sun would not join in the club. However, Quanjian will still offer the club both title sponsorship and advertising fees, but won't stand for bonus and transfer funds anymore.

Earlier, Teda was reportedly to buy more top players in the summer, and its target list included Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder and Brazilian Ronaldinho. Nowadays, it seemed to be in the shadow.

Teda coach Adrianus Haan declined to comment on the issue, saying "the sponsor had a well plan for the club, but it's not ture. Our team will be affected."

Sponsor Quanjian had ever been linked with another CSL club of Chongqing Lifan after its break with Teda, but without much success.

It's a gossip that Quanjian has been in negotiation with Songjiang, another team of Tianjin in the 2nd division league, and Sun Ke might play for Guangzhou R&F in the next half season.

On the rumor, Quanjian Group deputy president Deng Fei told Xinhua that "Quanjian is an enterprise in Tianjin city, we won't stop supporting Tianjin sports, and we won't stop serving for Tianjin football."