In this June 2, 2019 photo,Liaoning Hongyun's Sang Yifei (center) fights for the ball with a player of Qingdao Huanghai during a match between Liaoning Hongyun and Qingdao Huanghai. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - Liaoning FC players, who claim to have received no pay over last season from their bankruptcy-threatened club, have pleaded with the Chinese football governing body to step in on their behalf.

Several Liaoning FC players visited the Liaoning Sports Bureau in late March to seek help, but were told that the latter could do nothing about it.

ALSO READ: CFA to rule on 5 clubs' eligibility for Chinese leagues membership

The players found themselves trapped; because their club did not declare bankruptcy, they cannot look for a new job.

The players got no salaries for the whole year, but it is true that the club had no money to give us

Sang Yifei, Captain, Liaoning Hongyun club

One unnamed player said they had urged the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to rule on the eligibility of the second-tier club at the earliest possible date, but their plea went unanswered.

If its entry to play the 2020 campaign is denied by the CFA, the Liaoning club will go bankrupt as a consequence, the player said.

"We hope the CFA will look into our issue of unpaid wages. They cannot only care about the pay cut issue," he said.

"Those unpaid players of the second and third leagues are in dire need of the CFA's help," he said.

Liaoning Hongyun club captain Sang Yifei revealed in February that he and his teammates received no salaries for the 2019 season.

"The players got no salaries for the whole year, but it is true that the club had no money to give us," he wrote on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.

The future of the Shenyang-based club was thrown into uncertainty since last month after several of its players accused the club of forging eight players signature on a document submitted to the Chinese Football Association to confirm full payment of employee wages and bonuses for 2019.

READ MORE: Liaoning FC players threaten to sue club over forgery allegations

The Shenyang-based Liaoning club sent the document to the CFA before the February 3 deadline, with nine other clubs disqualified from taking part in the upcoming 2020 season for failing to do so.

The CFA announced last October that any club's failure to pay salaries of players, coaches and staff on time would result in disqualification from this season's league.