Reporter Chen Yong reported that on February 21, Xinjiang Tianshan Xuebao released the announcement of Xinjiang Tianshan Xuebao Football Club's intention to withdraw from the 2023 season of the professional league (hereinafter referred to as the announcement). So far, Xinjiang soccer is about to lose its professional soccer club. So, after Tianshan Snow Leopard, who will withdraw?
Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard was founded in 2014, objectively speaking, Tianshan Snow Leopard deserves respect in recent years, they said in the announcement, "Since 2020, due to the new championship epidemic and real estate market regulation, the investor Urumqi Juntai Real Estate Co. Ltd. continued to invest in order to keep the fire of professional soccer in Xinjiang in the face of their own extremely difficult circumstances. In particular, in the 2022 season, Urumqi was affected by the New Champions Epidemic for more than 100 days, and investors and entertainment businesses came to a standstill, but even under these circumstances, Xinjiang Tianshan Xuebao Football Club persisted in completing matches." The announcement also said that investor Urumqi Juntai Real Estate Co. has invested 350 million yuan over the past nine years.
Currently, the main reason for Tianshan Snow Leopard's exit is its own predicament. As the announcement said, "Since 2020, Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard Football Club has been trying to push forward the equity diversification reform, seeking support from all parties and transferring the club's equity with great sincerity, but the progress has not been smooth."
In addition, Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard said in the announcement, "After the end of the 2022 season of the First Division League, the club and the investors have been working hard to find a partner to make a last-ditch effort to retain the flame of professional soccer in Xinjiang. However, during this critical period, the CFA and the CFL Preparatory Group announced the principle of supplementary professional league qualification for the 2023 season, which directly canceled Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard's qualification to supplement the First Division League, which is undoubtedly the heaviest blow to Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard Football Club and investors."
In this regard, Xinjiang Tianshan Xuebao's inability to fill does affect the music department's ability to seek new investment, sponsorship or equity reform, but from another perspective, in the first four seasons, Xinjiang Tianshan Xuebao filled back into the A three times, being relegated in 2018, 2020, and 2021, and then being relegated in 2019, and having returned to the Central League for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. In the past four years, the situation of Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard has not changed fundamentally.
So far, two clubs have bid farewell to the Chinese professional soccer league after the 2022 season, Wuhan Changjiang, who were relegated to the Central League because of penalty points, and Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard, who both quit of their own accord.
The next possibility for a possible exit is River North Football Club. Currently, everything is at a standstill at Hebei Football Club. Although the team went to Foshan for winter training in 2003, according to the winter players, they paid for their own winter training.
In addition, there has been no more definitive news of other clubs voluntarily withdrawing.
However, the absence of active withdrawal does not mean that there will not be passive withdrawal, which involves two issues, namely, access and the prohibition of relocation from one place to another.
At present, the access problem is the most urgent and scratchy problem of Chinese soccer. The access issue is actually whether or not wages are owed. After all, the evaluation of the echelon is relatively easy to pass. From the CFA's previous statement, the access to the 2023 season will be more stringent, which involves two conditions: one is whether to solve the historical wage arrears, that is, the 2021 season and last season's wage arrears of the solution, and the second is whether the 2022 season arrears of wages. If the issue of wage arrears cannot be entered, it is effectively equivalent to bidding farewell to the professional league.
In addition, despite the fact that the CFA and CFF preparatory team studied the relocation policy after the 2022 season, deliberately allowing China A and China B clubs to relocate under strict conditions, sources indicate that the rule will not be implemented at least in 2023.
Previously, many struggling Chinese League One and Chinese League Two clubs were negotiating with foreign countries for off-site relocation, hoping to make up for salary arrears and give the clubs better living conditions through off-site relocation. But now the 2023 season can not be relocated, the possibility of future implementation is difficult to say. It is not ruled out that the clubs actively withdraw under the pressure of survival.
Overall, the current professional league is still in the stage of adjustment and stable maintenance, mainly because of the enormous pressure on clubs to survive. However, the situation may improve: this means that the return of fans is expected to gradually increase the commercial value of the Chinese professional soccer league, and thus gradually ease the pressure on clubs to survive.
As we all know, in three years time, the third tier professional league will actually return to home and away for the 2023 season. It is foreseeable that many fans from all over the country will once again enter the soccer stadium, and some clubs are expected to have a hot market. For example, Chengdu Rongcheng, which was once hot in the 2022 season, and Beijing Guoan, which is likely to be very popular in the 2023 season.
More fans are starting to enter the stadiums, and their travel, viewing, and dinner linkage effects have all the potential to greatly increase the commercial value of the league and facilitate the return of sponsors, which of course will certainly take a process, but in any case, the full return of the fans has to be the biggest highlight of Chinese soccer in 2023.
