BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Hebei FC players have denied that they have received part of their unpaid salaries after their club claimed they had been paid the money.
The Chinese Super League club released a statement on Sunday saying that it had met the Chinese Football Association's demands to pay its current players 30 percent of their unpaid salary by July 31.
The club's statement met with a denial from its players, who accused the club of having intimidated, threatened and strung them along.
"As of today, the Chinese players at Hebei have not received the 30 percent of their unpaid salaries which the club claimed has been paid," said a statement signed by 29 Hebei FC players.
Most of the Hebei players have gone unpaid so far this season, the statement said.
The players urged Hebei FC to take serious action to solve salary debts, instead of intimidating, threatening and stringing them along.
The club said it would withdraw from the Chinese Super League if not enough of its players agree to play on.
Hebei FC, which once shelled out big money for Argentinian stars Javier Mascherano and Ezequiel Lavezzi, was deducted three points by Chinese FA last Friday over unpaid salary issues.
The Langfang-based club currently sits bottom of the Chinese Super League with zero points and 16 consecutive defeats. ■
