Cangzhou Lions Official: Oscar’s Change in Return Conditions Led to Club’s Inability to Meet Requirements; Termination Notice Sent

On September 25, Cangzhou Lions released an announcement responding to Oscar’s social media exposure of unpaid wages.

The announcement is as follows:

Recently, player Oscar posted on social media that our club has been in arrears with his wages and abandoned him, which has attracted widespread attention. Regarding this matter, our club makes the following statement:

Since the 2021 season, with the strong support of the CPC Cangzhou Municipal Committee and the Municipal Government, our club moved its home venue to Cangzhou City. Although we subsequently received support from various parties, due to a combination of objective factors, the club faced actual revenue difficulties, and there were indeed historical wage arrears issues left unresolved.

On August 25, 2024, after the team ended their vacation and reconvened, Oscar did not report back as scheduled but instead left China without informing the club or the head coach in advance. Subsequently, Oscar expressed that he needed the historical wage arrears to be resolved before returning. While we fully understood this behavior, we have been in continuous communication with him, hoping that he could express his demands through appropriate channels during the final stages. However, after initially reaching a consensus and meeting his corresponding requirements, he proposed new conditions for return. Given the club’s actual situation, we were unable to meet these new conditions in the short term.

In this situation, after Oscar had been absent from the team for 26 days, our club sent him a ‘Termination Notice,’ informing him that we would no longer pay his salary for the remaining term of his contract. However, regarding the historical wage arrears and outstanding wages, our club will continue to communicate with the player and commit to resolving these properly.

Oscar joined our club at the beginning of 2020 and is currently the longest-serving foreign player in the team, deeply loved by fans. During his absence, our club did not express any negative remarks about him through any channels, and the club’s management maintained communication with him, striving to facilitate his return. Our club understands the player’s final choice and regrets that we cannot continue fighting together. We thank Oscar for his efforts and contributions over the years and look forward to seeing him return to the field soon. When we meet again on the pitch, you will still be a meritorious player of the club.

Regarding the issue of historical wage arrears, our club has never shied away from it and has maintained sincere communication with relevant parties, seeking feasible solutions. In recent years, regardless of whether contracts have expired or not, when players requested to leave, we have never set any obstacles or asked them to reduce the debt amount but signed repayment agreements for the full amount and adopted multiple solutions such as using properties under construction by the parent company as collateral for debts, to ensure players’ rights while raising funds as much as possible and resolving the issues in installments and batches.

This year marks the twelfth year since our club settled in Hebei Province. During this period, we have experienced several promotions and relegations, facing various difficulties repeatedly, but we have never easily given up. For the existing historical wage arrears problem, our club sincerely apologizes. We thank all sectors of society for their concern and encouragement and will actively address various difficulties, striving to complete the relegation fight while resolving historical issues properly.

At the same time, our club reserves all legal rights to pursue those who maliciously slander or spread rumors.