On February 14, Chen Xuyuan, president and deputy party secretary of the Chinese Football Association, was suspected of serious disciplinary violations, according to the official website of the State General Administration of Sports. He is currently under review and investigation by the Discipline Inspection Group of the State General Administration of Sports and the Hubei Provincial Supervisory Committee.
In the official website of the CFA, the latest news about Chen Xuyuan is the statement of the CFA on February 7 this year on the "Chen Xuyuan interview, giving himself 9 points" and other false news.
Photo credit: CFA official website
So far, four senior members of the CFA have been investigated. In addition to Chen Xuyuan, there are former national soccer coach Li Tie, former secretary general of the CFA Liu Yi, and former executive deputy secretary general of the CFA and minister of state management Chen Yongliang.
In 2019, Chen Xuyuan, who is outside the sports system, was parachuted in to become the chairman of the Football Association. More than three years later, China's soccer performance has not improved significantly, and bold reform measures have not been effective.
The price was the dissolution of 35 teams in the Chinese professional league, including four Chinese Super League clubs (Tianjin Tianhai, Jiangsu Suning, Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic and Qingdao Yellow Sea), which is no longer even Asia's top soccer league, and is known to some fans and players as "the league of unpaid wages".
Once built a Chinese Super League champion
Born in Shanghai, Chen Xuyuan graduated from high school in November 1973 and joined the Shanghai Port Authority (the predecessor of the Shanghai Port Group) as a longshoreman, and in July 1997 he obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from the Shanghai Transportation Institute (now the Shanghai Maritime University).
In 1988, Chen Xuyuan, the former secretary of the Youth League Committee of the Port Authority, became the manager of Baoshan Container Handling Company of Shanghai Port, and became a state-owned enterprise operator. in June 2005, Chen Xuyuan began to serve as the president of Shanghai Port Group, and was subsequently promoted to the chairman of the board of directors.
In 2013, Chen Xuyuan led the Shanghai Group to acquire Shanghai East Asia Football Club (now Shanghai Port Football Club) and built Shanghai Port from a "promoted horse" to a Chinese Super League champion in six years.
As previously reported, apart from work, Chen Xuyuan's biggest hobby is soccer. When he was young, he used to meet his friends and go to the Jiangwan Stadium in the northeast corner of Shanghai to watch matches. He not only likes to watch, but also likes to play. Shanghai Port has a strong amateur soccer atmosphere, and Chen Xuyuan has always been an active member.
The media also described him as "outspoken and outspoken", with a somewhat desperate personality on the court.
Chen Xuyuan took over Shanghai Port for four years and has been outspoken in every interview.
In 2015, a large number of large-scale foreign aid landed in the Chinese Super League. Chen Xuyuan has publicly stated that the cost of introducing foreign aid to Shanghai Port should be transparent and open. "The introduction price of some foreign aid is indeed a little higher than abroad, but it is not as exaggerated as the outside world says... Compared with the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga, the Chinese Super League still has a big gap, and these stars always have to get something. So higher prices are understandable."
In 2017, in response to the inflated price of local players, Chen Xuyuan also said many times, "The inflated price of internal aid is not in line with the actual level. Local players are simply not worth the price. Instead of spending a lot of money to buy people, it's better to give their youth players a chance."
In 2018, some clubs naturalized players into style. In an interview, Chen Xuyuan said, "For Chinese soccer to succeed, we have to do our own thing honestly and not take too many shortcuts. The victory brought by shortcuts won't last long."
On the morning of August 22, 2019, Chen Xuyuan was unanimously elected as the new CFA President at the first meeting of the 11th CFA General Assembly held at the national team training base in Xianghe, Hebei.
Chen Xuyuan is the first non-sports system from the FA chairman, but also the first full-time chairman in the history of the CFA.
Public call for gold dollar soccer
After Chen Xuyuan took office, Chinese soccer carried out a comprehensive "big change", which is the most concerned about the limit of salary limit investment and neutral name policy.
Salary and investment limits are clear limits on the club's total expenditure for a single financial year, and players' salaries for a single season.
According to the CFA, from the 2021 season onwards, the single financial annual expenditure of the Chinese Super League shall not exceed 600 million yuan; the wages of Chinese Super League domestic players in a single season shall not exceed 5 million yuan before tax, and the average annual salary shall not exceed 3 million yuan before tax; in terms of foreign aid, the maximum wages of Chinese Super League foreign aid in a single season shall be 3 million euros before tax (about 23.86 million yuan), and the total wages of foreign aid shall not exceed 10 million euros (about 79.53 million yuan).
In addition, from the 2021 season, all clubs will be required to submit annual financial statements to the CFA.
As for the neutral name reform, the CFA stipulates that club names shall not include any brand name, trade name or brand name of any shareholder, shareholder's affiliate or actual controller, nor shall they use Chinese characters or phrases similar or analogous to the above brand names. Under the neutral name reform, former famous soccer clubs such as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao have changed their names to "Guangzhou Team".
Not only that, but Chen Xuyuan also spoke at a meeting on the special governance of China's professional soccer league, criticizing the Chinese Super League for investing too much.
Chen Xuyuan said that the gold dollar soccer negative backwardness, furniture music department, soccer practitioners and the general public is very dissatisfied: "Over the years high investment, seems to increase the appreciation of the professional league, but in fact, high investment did not improve the overall level of Chinese soccer, not only that, this violates the law of value, seriously damage the present and future of Chinese soccer. "
"For salary regulation reform, some clubs should not take risks. Regardless of which club, how big the club's brand is, the implementation of punishment is equal, resolutely no mercy, resolutely no examples. In the past, the CFA was lax in its implementation, causing adverse effects. From now on, limit investment and salary, resolutely unambiguous. I am not the chairman, never use this as an example!"
Chen Xuyuan said at the meeting, "The fight against gold dollar soccer is related to the implementation of the purpose of China's soccer reform and development plan, the direction of China's soccer reform and development, the healthy and sustainable development of the clubs, and the national people's good expectations for the development of Chinese soccer."
collapse of prosperity
Salary and investment restrictions have not moved Chinese soccer in a healthy and stable direction. The arrival of the epidemic has shattered the prosperity of the Chinese Super League.
After the implementation of the salary restriction policy, the Chinese Super League not only said goodbye to world-class foreign aiders such as Carrasco and Pelé from top soccer powerhouses, but also missed out on top Asian foreign aiders from South Korea and Uzbekistan, such as Ahmadov, Kim Min-ah, and Kim Shin-woo.
At the same time, the impact of the epidemic, China's domestic and AFC Champions League have been postponed, the attention of Chinese soccer has dropped dramatically, and salary and investment restrictions have energized the already stretched professional league.
"After 2020, many clubs are having difficulties operating, many clubs are not investing much and have big salary arrears. These clubs, including Guangzhou, are also depreciating in value." Former Guangzhou Evergrande second team head coach Peng Weiguo lamented on Weibo.
In 2018, when Chen Xuyuan was not in office, the Chinese Super League teams shared more than 100 million yuan, but by 2022, the teams will share less than 10 million yuan. At the beginning of Chen Xuyuan's tenure, the Chinese Super League had 15 partner organizations. By 2022, the Chinese Super League will have only 10 partner organizations left, a loss of one-third.
Throughout Chinese professional soccer, 35 clubs have announced their dissolution, and former eight-time champions Guangzhou have been relegated to the Central League.
Chen Xuyuan once said that soccer itself is a public welfare product, calling for the concept of a "public welfare league". Fans now joke that Chinese soccer can't pay salaries, and that "the Chinese Super League has really become a public service league".
