The top coach of the Chinese Super League failed to bargain for salary! 5.5 million hard-earned money was wasted, and a year dried up in vain
Recently, FIFA announced the results of a new batch of arbitration cases, one of which shows that Van Gast, a well-known Dutch coach who once coached in the Chinese Super League, sued Guangzhou City Club for long-term wage arrears arbitration has ended, and finally FIFA supported Van Gast's salary demand, requiring Guangzhou City to pay arrears and liquidated damages within a time limit. However, since the city of Guangzhou had announced its dissolution, Van Gast's valuable salary arrears could not be recovered in the end.
Van Gast became Guangzhou City manager at the beginning of 2021 and signed a new contract in 2022 with an annual salary of about 1.08 million euros after tax due to his good results in leading the team. However, soon after the contract extension, Guangzhou City fell into financial crisis, the team could not pay salaries for a long time, the team's record also fell sharply, and finally Van Gast was fired midway through last season, but Guangzhou City owed him salary and liquidated damages still not paid.
According to the materials released by FIFA, Van Gast sued Guangzhou City Club for unpaid wages and liquidated damages, a total of 1.5 million euros, and finally FIFA supported the claim of 700,000 euros (about 5.5 million yuan), requiring Guangzhou City to pay this money to Van Gast within a time limit. However, Guangzhou City did not pass the Chinese Super League this year, and the club has been dissolved, so Van Gast has no way to bargain even if he has the support of FIFA.
It is understood that because Guangzhou City has been in arrears for too long, Van Gast has not received wages for almost a whole year, and now with the dissolution of the club, this money is also lost. In fact, in the Chinese Super League, some clubs have used the dissolution and withdrawal from professional leagues as a means of avoiding salary arrears and debts, which is not uncommon, such as Jiangsu Suning, which was dissolved in 2021, and still owes a large number of players and staff salaries that have not been paid. With this phenomenon intensifying, it's no wonder FIFA has listed the Chinese Super League as a "high-risk" location for work.