Footballer in court to appeal salary dispute

A former local football player asked Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court Monday to reconsider a district court decision that rejected his claim that the Shanghai Shenhua Liansheng Football Club owes him 748,000 yuan ($120,105) in bonuses and other compensation for the 2009 season.

The court did not reach a decision at Monday's hearing.

The player, Sun Ji, and the local football team first went to court this September to settle the dispute. In that case, Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court ruled that under their contract, the team was not responsible for paying Sun the disputed portion of his salary, which was made up of training allowances and appearance fees.

The dispute originated from a management change at the team in 2008. Under their previous contracts, the team paid Sun every part of his compensation, including his monthly salary, training allowance, bonuses and appearance fees, according to case documents from the Pudong court.

After 2008, Sun signed one contract with the club and another with a related company registered in Hong Kong called U. City Ltd., which was responsible for paying the training allowances and appearance fees. In the first case, the court suggested that Sun seek recompense from U. City as it was responsible for paying the disputed portion of his salary.

U. City owns a 90 percent stake of the company that is the largest shareholder of the Shanghai Shenhua Liansheng Football Club, according to court documents.

At Monday's hearing, Sun's attorney, Li Huaping, from Jiahua Law Firm, argued that the close relationship between U. City and the Shanghai Shenhua Liansheng Football Club essentially made them one in the same. "The Hong Kong company and the club are like the right and left hands of one person. Behind it, they have the same boss," Sun said after the hearing.

The attorney for Shanghai Shenhua Liansheng Football Club argued that the club and the Hong Kong company are entirely different entities, which Sun understood when he signed both contracts.

Sun joined the Shanghai Shenhua Football Club in 2002. He moved to the Greentown Football Club in Zhejiang Province after the 2009 season ended.