SFA denies accusations in ex-stars' image rights row

The Shanghai Football Association has denied claims that some retired foreign footballers have accused it of infringing on their image rights.

Chinese sports media outlet hupu.com, citing Italian media, yesterday claimed that five retired stars — Jari Litmanen, Gaizka Mendieta, Dmitriy Bulykin, Paulo Ferreira and Kevin Kuranyi — have accused the SFA and the organizing committee of the 2018 Shanghai International Legend Stars Tournament of using their images during promotion of the tournament. The organizing committee issued a statement yesterday evening, saying the SFA has denied the accusation.

 The committee said it has contacted all the five players. Bulykin was said to be working on his visa for the Shanghai tournament, while the other four could not make the China trip, but none was aware of the claims. The tournament, to be held on June 2-3, features legends from the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal and China.