(Yicai Global) March 1 -- Suning Holdings Group has withdrawn as the backer of Jiangsu Football Club, throwing the future of the Chinese Super League champions into doubt, as the retailing giant, which also owns Italian soccer club Inter Milan, battles to rein in debt.

Jiangsu FC, which won the Chinese Super League just three months ago, has been told to cease all operations with immediate effect, the club said on its Weibo blog, to the dismay of its legions of fans.

With CNY500 million (USD77.3 million) in overdue salaries, Jiangsu FC has been looking for a new owner for the last half year, it said. There were even reports that Suning would give the club away for free on the sole condition that the buyer should pay the late wages. However, no offers were forthcoming.

Suning, which bought the club for CNY523 million (USD91 million) in 2015, is cutting investments in assets that are not part of its main retailing business, founder and Chairman Zhang Jindong said earlier this year.

The Nanjing-based company is under huge pressure to scale back debt brought on by overaggressive expansion in recent years and the added impact of the pandemic that has greatly reduced footfall to its brick-and-mortar outlets.

There has been speculation that the retailer might sell Inter Milan for EUR1 billion (USD1.2 billion), after paying EUR270 million (USD326 million) for a 68.5 percent stake in 2016. London-based private equity firm BC Partners was considering offering about EUR750 million, Reuters reported in January, citing people familiar with the matter.

Suning remains committed, the Milan-based club said on Feb. 26.

Inter Milan’s revenue jumped 25.7 percent in the first half of the fiscal year 2020-2021 from the previous year to EUR202 million (USD244.1 million), according to its earnings report released on Feb. 26.

Suning Holdings is the sister company of Suning.Com, also founded by Zhang, which recently sold a 23 percent stake to investment firms backed by the Shenzhen government to ease liquidity pressure.

Suning.Com’s shares [SHE:002024] surged by the 10 percent daily trading limit today to close at CNY7.70 (USD1.20) each.

Editor: Kim Taylor