SHANGHAI - The Chinese Super League champions Jiangsu FC will be liquidated after it was denied by the Chinese football authority to play in the new season, Shanghai media reported on Thursday.

An unnamed worker of the Nanjing-based club told Shanghai Morning Post that the club told him they would enter liquidation procedure when he inquired about his unpaid salary.

It was unlikely that he could get his overdue pay, the worker said.

The Shanghai outlet reported that the club promised to pay some money to their players and working staff in April. Several players claimed that the club failed to pay them the salaries of the 2019 season.

The Nanjing-based club's fate looked doomed when its owner Suning announced that the club would cease operation of all its teams at the end of February.

On Monday, the Chinese Football Association released the list of clubs eligible to play in the 2021 campaign, leaving off Jiangsu FC, which won the Chinese Super League title last season when they beat Guangzhou FC in a playoff in November.