CIty Football Group club consider name change to Robot Panda FC

Watch out Cape Coast Mysterious Ebusua Dwarfs, Lincoln Red Imps and Grenades FC, there could be a new contender for the best team name in football...

When the Chinese footballing authorities ordered all clubs to drop any corporate sponsors from their names, most sides opted for the most vanilla alterations possible.

One team who did not get the memo is Sichuan Jiuniu. The team is one of 11 worldwide operated by the City Football Group, which is headed up by Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour and chairman Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak.

Although their current name does not breach anti-corporate regulations, that has not stopped
Sichuan Jiuniu from floating the idea of changing their title to something quite unbelievable: Sichuan Robot Panda.

Yes, you have read that correctly...

According to local news outlet Sina, the club submitted two potential names for when the regulations come into place: Sichuan Jiuniu and... well, the other one.

A local source said that the reason for the incredible proposal was that major shareholder, Youbixuan Technology, is an artificial intelligence manufacturer that makes humanoid robots, while 'Panda' is the name of well known local business.

Oh, we get it. It is a genius way to get around the anti-corporate, naming rules. The source went on to admit that the club had not yet finalised which of the two names it would select. We know which one we'd prefer.

Incredibly, this is not the only 'panda' related story that has cropped up this week.

In Spain, Atletico Madrid star Yannick Carrasco was forced to borrow his neighbours' Fiat Panda in order to ferry some teammates to training in the midst of Storm Filomena. Apparently, it handles better in the snow than Carrasco's own car.