Former champions Dalian Shide in acquisition turmoil

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　　Shide, once the most accomplished¹ club in China's top soccer league, had not been able to find enough financial support and asked for an acquisition by city rivals Aerbin late last year.

　　But the acquisition application was negated² by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) for breaching³ relative regulations which state that a Chinese Super League club (CSL) is not allowed to hold another team in the same league.

　　Although Shide already prepared to give up their qualification in next season's CSL, the club would not be written off, losing their name that was once the pride of the city.

　　Following the failed acquisition, Shide Tuesday were forced to apply for registration⁴ for next season which they may not be able to finish due to lack of fund if their application could be approved by the CFA at all.

　　CFA authorities told Xinhua that Shide's decision should be respected but whether they can compete in the CSL depends on if Shide can meet the requirements of CSL.

　　Sources, who declined to be named, told Xinhua that Shide may meet the requirements but it's most likely that the club can not hold it to the end of next season due to insufficient⁵ money.

　　Shide's swaying attitude also caused some trouble to clubs from lower leagues, such as Shanghai Shenxin and Beijing Baxy. If Shide quit the 2013 season as they had planned, Shenxin and Baxy may keep their positions in CSL and China's League (second tier of China's men's soccer leagues) respectively. If Shide stays, Shenxin and Baxy will be relegated⁶ to second and third-tier leagues respectively.

　　Dalian Shide were founded in 1982 as Dalian Football Club. In 1993, the club was reorganized to become a professional club and went on to win the first fully⁷ professionalized Chinese Jia-A League in 1994.

　　Achieving a total of eight league titles from both the Jia A and the rebranded CSL, Dalian have become to date the most successful club in Chinese football, while in the tournaments organized by Asian Football Confederation, the club reached the 1997-98 Asian Club Championship and 2000-01 Asian Cup Winners'Cup finals.

　　The club were also famous for its withdrawal⁸ from football. In 2000 at the height of their success, then boss of the club Wang Jianlin decided⁹ to pull out from football after publically criticizing Chinese referees¹⁰ for match fixing.

　　On January 9, 2000, Wang Jianlin sold the club to Shide Group and the club's name was changed to Dalian Shide.

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