Source: Football Gazette
By Chen Yong
The economic crisis of Chinese soccer that began at the beginning of the 2019 season not only shows no sign of easing after two years, but also begins to develop towards a deeper level, and it is worth noting that this crisis, which began to present itself in the 2021 season, is significantly different from the past two years, and we can also call it version 2.0.
Reducing inputs will not help
First look at the phenomenon: at least two clubs in the Chinese Super League are in deep trouble: Tianjin Teda's situation is the worst, there is a high probability of eventual dissolution; Jiangsu Suning's situation is also not optimistic, the investor asked to "protect the main business, subtracting", and at the same time, the foreign coach terminated the contract, the foreign aid out of the house, internal aid deep into the rumors of transfers, the road ahead is also very The road ahead is also very confusing.
In fact, things are not looking good for other clubs either, and while they are not going to disband this year, the question of how to survive and thrive is already looming.
The situation is also the same in the first division, Taizhou Yuanda has not updated the official platform for two and a half months, the transfer of no sign of progress, the probability of dissolution; Zibo Cuju into a mess of infighting, there are no signs of improvement.
It's been relatively quiet on the China B side, but that quietness has something to do with the lack of attention and doesn't rule out the possibility of a team dropping out.
It should be noted that the 2021 season of the economic crisis in Chinese soccer, and the past two seasons is still a clear difference: the 2019 season and the 2020 season, when the level of investment in the third tier league is relatively high, many investors can no longer afford to keep up with it, but the 2021 season, regardless of whether it is the Chinese Super League, the Chinese A League or the Chinese B League, the average investment of clubs should be reduced by at least half or even more than before, the minimum The minimum input is even only 5% to 10% of the highest input of the previous team of the same level, for example, the input of the middle B has dipped to the level of 5 million, the input of the middle A has dipped to the level of 50 million, and the input of the Chinese Super League has dipped to the level of 200 million yuan. In this case, according to the pressure of investors has been substantially alleviated, but the willingness of investors to invest is even lower.
Or it can be said this way: the economic crisis of the past two seasons of Chinese soccer is to pay for the "bubble soccer", the economic crisis of the 2021 season, it is the fermentation of multiple factors, including the factor of panic mentality, of course, also includes the factor of the neutral name, and even the advertisement effect has been deprived of the case, and then in the soccer on the money, can not convince the board of directors, and the board of directors can not convince the board of directors. convince the board.
2.28 At the end of life and death
It must be noted that at 17:00 on February 28th is the deadline for these clubs to live or die: Regarding the "Wage and Bonus Confirmation Form", the CFA stipulates that on February 10th, it should submit three documents, namely, "Unsigned Situation Explanation", "Detailed Solution" and "Shareholders' Commitment Guarantee". Shareholder commitment guarantee" three documents, on this basis, the Chinese Super League, China A and China B professional clubs must be submitted before 17:00 on February 28, previously unsigned personnel of the "salary and bonus confirmation form". The CFA made it clear: "If there are still unresolved wage arrears by then, clubs will no longer be accepted to apply for access to the 2021 season."
In other words, for many clubs, the time to decide whether to live or die is only left in the last week. More importantly, although the final start time of the three-tier professional soccer league in China has not yet been officially announced, this year the clubs can not count on the CFA to open the back door again and again, February 28, 2021 at 17:00, is the last door closing time, can not get in, you can only say goodbye to Chinese soccer.
Theoretically, the entry list of the third tier league should be announced at least two months before the league kicks off, otherwise it will seriously affect the preparation of the clubs, as the teams that have been handed in must supplement their reinforcements, and this time must be set aside relatively sufficiently. From this perspective, it is not reasonable for the 2021 season to start in early April. If the season starts in early April, a number of clubs may not be able to get together enough foreign aid, and a more reasonable time to start the season should be in mid- to late-April.
All things considered, I'm afraid that the final lists for the 2021 season for the Chinese Super League, Chinese First Division and Chinese Second Division are quite different from the theoretical ones.
Well, in this crisis, we also see some hope and light: Henan Jianye shareholding reform is quite gratifying, Zhengzhou and Luoyang two cities to intervene in the team's future development of the government level of support; in addition, Chongqing Municipality, Cangzhou Municipality and the city of Tangshan to support the development of soccer initiatives, but also boosted the confidence of Chinese soccer.
Although the development strategies and business management of the clubs after the government's support have yet to be sorted out, they have at least preserved the spark for the future bottoming out of China's professional soccer league.
