2021 Beijing Sinobo Guoan F.C. season

The 2021 season is Beijing Sinobo Guoan F.C.'s 57th season in football competition and the club's 18th consecutive season in the Chinese Super League since the league's founding in the 2004. It is the team's 31st consecutive season in the top flight of Chinese football. It covers a period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.

Beijing Sinobo Guoan
2021 season
General ManagerLi Ming
ManagerSlaven Bilić
StadiumWorkers' Stadium
Beijing Fengtai Stadium[1]

Summary

Pre-season

On 2 January, Toni Šunjić completed his transfer to Henan Jianye, the team he played for on loan after joining Guoan in the summer of 2020.[2] He did not cap for Guoan.

On 6 January, Guoan announced Slaven Bilić, former manager of the Croatian national team, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion as the team's new manager.[3] The team's contract with former manager Bruno Génésio lapsed at the end of the last season and was not renewed.[4]

22 January saw Kim Min-Jae arrive in Guangzhou to begin his COVID-19 quarantine according to Chinese government regulations amid transfer rumors.[5][6] He was the first foreign player to return ahead of the season. Bilić and his coaching staff landed in Hangzhou on 25 January for quarantine.[7] Guoan's first training camp for the season began on 25 January in Kunming with only 11 first team players as many foreign players have yet to return or are undergoing quarantine according to Chinese regulations, and 7 first team members are training with the Chinese national team in Haikou.[5][7] Chinese coaching staff are leading the training camp alongside reserve team players.[7]

Name Change

On 14 December, 2020, the Chinese Football Association officially mandated that all clubs must remove references to investors and the companies that own them in their name and instead adopt "neutral" names before the beginning of the 2021 season.[8][9] Under this regulation, Guoan need to drop Sinobo, a Chinese real estate investment company and the club's majority owner, from its name.[10] Further, the club must change its name, Guoan, as CITIC Guoan Group still owns partial share in the club.

The club, its owners, and its fans have objected the name change as all parties feel the name "Guoan" is part of the club's identity.[11] All clubs must submit their new name to the Chinese FA for approval by 31 December, 2020; instead of submitting a new name, Guoan submitted a petition to delay name change on the grounds that Sinobo Group is negotiating a deal to purchase the club's remaining shares from CITIC Guoan.[12] If the purchase is completed, the name "Guoan" will no longer directly reference the club's owner, which may avert the need for a new club name.[12]

On 21 January, reports emerged that the Chinese FA demanded Guoan to show concrete proof of the purchase negotiation process by 31 January, otherwise the club must adopt a different name for the upcoming season.[13] Further difficulties during the purchase negotiations process was reported on 26 January. The report claims that due to CITIC being a Chinese state-owned enterprise, ownership transfer requires a more complicated process, and that the parties involved could not agree over the transaction cost.[14]

On 29 January, the China Beijing Equity Exchange published a notice outlining the club's intended ownership transfer from CITIC to Sinobo for ￥1, successfully meeting Chinese FA's 31 January deadline. However, reports emerged on 3 February that the ownership transfer would require Sinobo to shoulder an additional debt of ￥600 million, stalling the transfer and increasingly the likelihood that the club would have to take up a new name.[15]

Players
As of 2 February 2021[16]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  CHN Hou Sen
2 DF  KOR Kim Min-jae
3 DF  CHN Yu Yang
4 DF  CHN Li Lei
5 MF  BRA Renato Augusto (vice-captain)
6 MF  CHN Chi Zhongguo
7 MF  CHN Hou Yongyong [note 1]
8 MF  CHN Piao Cheng
9 FW  CHN Zhang Yuning
10 MF  CHN Zhang Xizhe
11 MF  BRA Fernando
14 GK  CHN Zou Dehai
16 DF  CHN Jin Pengxiang
17 FW  COD Cédric Bakambu
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF  CHN Jin Taiyan
20 FW  CHN Wang Ziming
21 MF  ESP Jonathan Viera
22 DF  CHN Yu Dabao (Captain)
23 MF  CHN Li Ke [note 1]
24 DF  CHN Yang Fan
25 GK  CHN Guo Quanbo
26 MF  CHN Lü Peng
27 FW  CHN Wang Gang
29 MF  CHN Ba Dun
32 MF  CHN Liu Guobo
39 FW  CHN Wen Da
41 GK  CHN Ma Kunyue
— DF  CHN Liu Huan

Transfers

In
# Position Nationality Name Age Moving from Type Transfer Window Ends Fee Source
DF Toni Šunjić 32 Henan Jianye End of loan Winter 2022 Free
DF Liu Huan 31 Chongqing Lifan End of loan Winter 2022 Free
DF Zhang Yu 26 Changchun Yatai End of loan Winter 2021 Free

Out
# Position Nationality Name Age Moving to Type Transfer Window Fee Source
19 FW A Lan 31 Guangzhou Evergrande End of loan Winter Free
DF Toni Šunjić 32 Henan Jianye Transfer Winter Undisclosed [2]
28 DF Jiang Tao 31 End of contract Winter [18]

Friendlies
3 February 2021 Friendly Beijing Sinobo Guoan 1–0 Kunming Zheng He Shipman Kunming, China
Bai Yunfei

Competitions

AFC Champions League
Main article: 2021 AFC Champions League

Qualifying stage
Main article: 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
14 April 2021 Play-off round Beijing Sinobo Guoan – Winners of East 1.1

Notes
  1. Upon joining the club, player became naturalized Chinese citizen[17]

References
  1. Xu, Xiaofan (25 July 2020). "国安俱乐部临时落脚丰体，曾经的同城对手就在旁边". Sohu Sport (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  2. "关于球员托尼·舒尼奇加盟河南建业足球俱乐部的公告" [Announcement of Toni Šunjić Joining Henan Jianye]. Sina Weibo (in Chinese). 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  3. "国安官宣聘任前克罗地亚主帅比利奇 签约至2022年" [Guoan Announced Former Croatian National Team Boss Slaven Bilić as Manager, Contract Until 2022]. Sohu Sports (in Chinese). 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  4. "国安官方宣布热内西奥离任 感谢他的辛勤付出" [Guoan Announces Génésio's Departure And Thanks His Contribution]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  5. Zhang, Kunlong (22 January 2021). "金玟哉抵达广州开始隔离 比利奇签证到位正等机票" [Kim Min-Jae Arrived at Guangzhou to Begin Quarantine, Bilić Visa Approved And Waiting for Plane Ticket]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  6. Murray, Scott (15 January 2021). "Football transfer rumours: Chelsea and Spurs to fight over Kim Min-jae?". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  7. Zhang, Kunlong (26 January 2021). "国安首阶段冬训仅11人参加 比利奇已来华正在隔离" [Guoan's First Training Camp Include Only 11 Players, Bilić Landed in China And Is Undergoing Quarantine]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  8. "'So angry': Chinese football clubs ordered to change names". France 24. 3 December 2020. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. Jia, Nan, ed. (14 December 2020). "中国足协：俱乐部中性名不得含有商号或品牌名称" [Chinese FA: Neutral Club Names Must Not Contain Business or Brand Names]. Sina News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  10. "Profile". Sinobo Group. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  11. "国安球迷组织联合4大球迷会 反对足协中性名一刀切" [Guoan Supporters' Organization Against Chinese FA's Club Name Policy]. Sohu Sports (in Chinese). 6 December 2020. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  12. Zhou, Xiao (31 December 2020). "国安向足协递交延期申报名称申请 盼完成股权变更" [Guoan Petition to Delay Name Change, Hoping to Buy Stakes from CITIC Group]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  13. "记者:足协要国安1月底前拿出股权变更阶段性成果" [Reporter: Chinese FA Demand Guoan to Show Proof of Purchasing Negotiations by End of January]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). 21 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  14. "曝北京国安股权交易进展不佳 转让价格暂未谈拢" [Guoan's Ownership Transfer Stalled Over Cost Issues]. Sohu Sports (in Chinese). 26 January 2021. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  15. Zhou, Xiao (3 February 2021). "京媒:国安股权转让大概率被叫停 改名势在必行" [Beijing Media: Guoan Ownership Transfer Stalled, Renaming Imminent]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  16. "一线队" (in Chinese). Beijing Sinobo Guoan. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  17. 中赫国安官宣三人加盟 侯永永邹德海李可来投 (in Chinese). 31 January 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  18. "姜涛：目前看跟国安续约比较难 实现了儿时梦想" [Jiang Tao: Difficult To Renew Guoan Contract, Playing for The Team Is A Childhood Dream]. Sohu Sports (in Chinese). 2 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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