Chapter 731 - 656: Whoever Opposes, Gets Out

Chapter 731: Chapter 656: Whoever Opposes, Gets Out

Bartel was the first, but he definitely wouldn’t be the last.

Those on the front lines are the first to feel the chill. The new CBA season hadn’t started yet, so its players hadn’t felt the immediate impact of commercialization.

But things were different in the world of football.

The Chinese Super League was in full swing, and the policy allowing five foreign players was already having a tangible effect on some people.

On May 22nd, after the tenth round of the Chinese Super League, the league entered a 40-day hiatus.

During these 40 days, the men’s National Team was scheduled to play several international A-Level matches to earn more FIFA ranking points for the AFC Asian Cup qualifying draw.

Just as Bartel was blasting the league’s commercial reforms and his imminent unemployment, someone else was feeling the exact same way.

Shen Hua’s forward, Zhang Yuning.

In ’03, he had joined Shen Hua with the title of the league’s most expensive player, a 12 million transfer fee, and an annual salary as high as 3 million.

His arrival successfully helped Shen Hua win another league championship.

But just after the new year, he changed.

In ’03, he scored 22 goals. But by ’04, although there were external factors like club instability, his own form had plummeted. He only made 10 appearances and scored just 2 goals.

His performance had turned upside down.

As for Zhang Yuning himself, things were already bad enough. He never expected that he hadn’t even hit rock bottom yet.

This season, Xie Hui returned to Shen Hua.

Last season, Zhang Yuning could still start alongside Martinez.

With Xie Hui’s arrival, his starting spot was quickly taken away.

He could live with that.

After all, he was on a big contract and a high salary. As long as it didn’t stop him from making money, it was fine.

But then, unexpectedly, Shen Hua brought in Vieri midway through.

Vieri!

He was still fantasizing about what it would be like to be Vieri’s teammate when he learned he wouldn’t even make it to the substitute’s bench.

’You can’t just stick a player you spent three million euros on on the bench, can you?’

Head coach Nepo, obsessed with a 3-5-2 formation, had no intention of playing with three forwards. So even Xie Hui didn’t have a chance to start, let alone him.

This change also affected his selection for the National Team.

Back in April, Zhu Guanghu had come to scout him and Xie Hui, and had even told reporters that his form was recovering and he had a good chance of making the National Team.

But what was the result? He was ultimately dropped.

The reasons were numerous, but Zhang Yuning felt it definitely had to do with his lack of playing time.

’No matter how hard I train, what’s the damn point if I don’t get to play?’

At this point, he just complained to Nepo and Lao Dai.

All of this left Zhang Yuning frustrated and annoyed, but what really made him fly off the handle was the money.

He had transferred to Shen Hua in ’03 on a three-year contract. His salary was 2 million the first year, with a 20 percent increase each year after, so this year his salary had reached 3 million.

And at the end of this season, his contract was up for renewal.

While complaining to Lao Dai, the conversation naturally turned to his contract renewal, but Dai Chunhua didn’t say anything at the time.

But then, the club blindsided Zhang Yuning with a heavy blow.

The club stated directly that if he wanted to stay at Shen Hua, he could, but he would have to take a pay cut—down to less than 1 million.

His income would be slashed by more than two-thirds.

How could Zhang Yuning tolerate that?

He mainly thought the club still needed him.

’Vieri is only playing for one season. Surely he’s not going to stay in China forever, right?’

’And then there was Martinez. That old rascal was getting restless, scheming to go earn big money somewhere else.’

’Once they leave, won’t it be me and Xie Hui calling the shots next season?’

Zhang Yuning knew his form had declined and could accept a small pay cut, say to 2 million. But less than 1 million? He couldn’t accept that at all.

’An annual salary of 1 million? How am I supposed to live on that?’

Moreover, Zhang Yuning heard a rumor that a certain leader at Shen Hua had directly said he was earning almost 10,000 a day, and the club couldn’t afford it.

’Vieri is getting three million euros to play for a total of four months. On average, that’s over twenty thousand euros a day, which is more than two hundred thousand yuan! You can afford that, but you can’t handle me making ten thousand a day?’

Just as Bartel fired the first shot, Zhang Yuning, in a moment of rashness, jumped on the bandwagon.

He was even more aggressive than Bartel, even invoking a greater cause, bluntly telling the media, "Chinese football is finished!"

He said that if the league kept commercializing like this and lifting restrictions on foreign players, soon football would be just like basketball—you’d look and see nothing but foreigners, with no spots left for Chinese players.

"If Chinese players can’t get any playing time, isn’t Chinese football doomed?"

He also passive-aggressively took a jab at the clubs, saying, "You treat players that the Five Major Leagues don’t want, players who have already been cast aside, like treasures, signing them for huge sums. Isn’t that disgraceful?"

Every word seemed to be aimed at Pioneer, but in reality, he was also taking passive-aggressive shots at his own club.

Riding the wave of Bartel’s outcry, his comments also attracted massive attention.

However, Zhang Yuning thought he was adding fuel to the fire, but he ended up getting burned himself first.

Before the Football Association and the clubs could even react, fans online had already started flaming him.

The vast majority were Batty’s fans. They argued, "Is Batty someone nobody wants? The man was about to retire and was only willing to play one more year for the fans."

"At his age, it’s enough that he can still run on the pitch! We want to watch him, what business is it of yours?"

Vieri’s fans were even more furious.

"Was Vieri cast aside? If he wanted to stay in Serie A, it would have been a piece of cake. Plenty of teams wanted him."

Of course, Zhang Yuning’s words still had an effect.

Many fans and media outlets online began to speak out, worrying that if the league really continued down this path, it would end up just as Zhang Yuning described: full of foreign players.

Chen Yu himself had said in an exclusive interview that Pioneer basketball wanted to assemble an all-foreign starting lineup.

「Capital. Sports Bureau.」

In response to the recent backlash, Yuan Weimin specifically called a meeting to discuss the matter.

After the meeting, Li Yuanwei walked out, hurried a few steps, and caught up to Yan Shiduo.

Their secretaries immediately took a few steps back, giving the two space to talk.

"Old Yan, are we really going to handle this severely?" Li Yuanwei asked with a frown.

During the meeting, Yuan Weimin hadn’t given a clear-cut stance, but his meaning was clear between the lines.

’The Director doesn’t tolerate any insubordination.’

’You’re just a player. If you speak out of turn, you have to face the consequences.’

But Bartel wasn’t just any ordinary player. He had considerable influence in Chinese Basketball. ’Could they really punish him just like that?’

"What else can we do?" Yan Shiduo gave a wry smile. "Haven’t you understood Director Yuan’s meaning? The overall direction can’t change. Even if it does, it won’t be now. We can’t be afraid of sacrifices and losses. How can there be success without failure?"

Li Yuanwei nodded slightly, understanding the subtext immediately.

Why was Yuan Weimin brought back from retirement? It was precisely to push the commercialization of the Chinese Super League and the CBA.

Why was he himself able to take over the Basketball Association? And Yan Shiduo—at the beginning of the year, he could have been promoted to Director of the Sports Bureau’s Training Department, but he remained as the Director of the Football Management Center.

Wasn’t it all for this very purpose?

This was the grand direction, the very reason they held their positions.

So the grand direction could not change. Whoever opposed it would have to go.

’It only started last year. If we back down now because of a little noise, what does that make us?’

’We’ve already invested so many resources in the early stages. How could we just change course on a whim?’

As for certain people being dissatisfied... well, as Director Yuan said, if you’re not afraid of sacrifice, then let them be sacrificed.

"This is a headache,"

Li Yuanwei sighed.

Bartel’s outcry was troublesome, but still manageable.

They could just issue a statement and have a word with the media.

’You’re "permanently quitting" the National Team? Face reality: the National Team doesn’t want you anymore.’

The real trouble was the vast number of sports schools across the country, the people in the sports system.

The sports schools had countless young players eagerly hoping to enter the professional leagues. If the leagues were filled with foreign players, their decade or more of training would be for nothing.

Then there were all the related personnel—so many old coaches, trainers, and managers. If their players couldn’t even get into the league, what would they be needed for? To play in provincial and city leagues?

It might not be a problem now, but in a few years, they could all be laid off.

They were the most troublesome force to deal with.

Yan Shiduo had a headache as well.

Just then, Yan Shiduo’s phone rang. He gave Li Yuanwei an apologetic smile and stepped aside to answer it.

Li Yuanwei didn’t leave right away. He still had more he wanted to discuss with Yan Shiduo.

To exchange ideas on how to deal with that group of people.

"This is absurd!"

Just then, Yan Shiduo suddenly roared in anger.

Li Yuanwei froze for a second. ’What’s happened now?’