Before China Evergrande neared collapse, its soccer team chased global glory

Now, the state of Evergrande’s soccer team provides a parable for its broader decline. Both Xu and Jack Ma, the founder of tech giant Alibaba, which bought 50 percent of the club in 2014, are now seemingly persona non grata in Xi’s China. Guangzhou F.C. has now been given the team’s new name. as part of a nationwide mandate by authorities to use “neutral names,” anddistance Chinese soccer from the excesses and vanity of these tycoon owners. Unsurprisingly, the club’s competitiveness at the continental level has diminished.