Guizhou offers cash bonus to halt slide

Struggling Guizhou Hengfeng will dish out more than US$1.5 million in cash per game to inspire its demoralized players to victory — but they’ll be docked money if they lose.

The carrot-and-stick approach is being applied as Guizhou is bottom of the Chinese Super League after losing 8 of its first 9 games, including 5 on the bounce.

Club boss Wen Wei treated the team and staff to a lavish dinner on Tuesday, 2 days after it was thrashed 1-5 at Tianjin Teda, and proposed an eye-watering victory bonus of 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) for each of the next 2 games in a desperate effort to stop the rot, local media said.

In the event of a long-awaited win, the cash will be waiting in the dressing room after the games, the Guizhou Metropolitan Daily cited Wen as saying.

The team will earn 2 million yuan for a draw, but be fined a collective 1 million if it loses, or about 33,000 yuan apiece.

Guizhou’s 30 players as well as staff at the dinner accepted Wen’s proposal, the newspaper said, but they face a tough test at home to CSL leader Shanghai SIPG on Saturday followed by a trip to fellow struggler Dalian Yifang the following weekend.

Property magnate Wen said he was just trying to “unite the team” coached by Spaniard Gregorio Manzano. “I want my team to forget all the losses and think about hard-won victories,” Wen told the newspaper.

Club officials could not be reached for comment.

Chinese football has in recent years made headlines with a series of expensive big-name foreign signings, with SIPG shelling out an Asian-record 60 million euros (US$71.29 million) last year to buy Brazil attacking midfielder Oscar from Chelsea.

Argentina forward Carlos Tevez earned some of the highest wages in world football during an ill-fated 12-month spell at Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, before returning to Boca Juniors earlier this year.