On February 6, Shanghai women's soccer team officially announced that international player Tang Jiali ended her contract with La Liga Madrid CFF and returned to the team. It is understood that Tang Jiali was forced to terminate her study abroad due to visa problems.
In the past, many Chinese players have given up studying abroad due to the call of the FA or their competitive status. 20 years ago, Xie Hui Fan Zhiyi, and now Wu Lei Zhang Yuning.
Only Don Chia-Li ended up studying abroad because of visa problems. So what kind of visa makes it difficult for the resounding Rose? What was her marriage to CFF Madrid and how did it end?
In June 2021, Tang Jiali, who had made several saves in Olympic preliminaries, was unexpectedly dropped from the Tokyo Olympic roster.
By this time, she had received several offers from European clubs. One from Madrid and another from North London.
The former, sincere and eager, signed Don Chiarelli to a two-year contract. Tottenham planned a one-year loan. On the advice of many, Don Chiarelli went to the Premier League, where the level of commercialization, influence and competition is higher.
On July 21, the only player to study abroad joined the English Premier League. On the same day, the Jaguares went 0-5 Brazil at the Olympics.
A year later, CFF Madrid handed out another two-year lease to invite Don Chiarelli to La Liga.
According to FIFA's transfer regulations, (TMS), the maximum length of a club's loan at one time is one year. In the end, a 1+1 agreement was reached. The contract states that if the player chooses to leave in the second year, the new team can only be other European leagues and Chinese clubs. If you go to another La Liga team, you need to pay CFF Madrid a certain training fee.
An agreement was reached in May of this year, and the team then began the process of applying for a work permit from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, while Tang Jiali returned to China on June 1 to prepare the materials after a few days' rest.
Landing in Chengdu, during the 14+7 quarantine, Tang Jiali began preparing some visa information. However, processes such as medical examinations will need to be dealt with after the quarantine is lifted on June 21st. If all goes well, it will take about a month to prepare all the information, which is July 21st. The Chinese women's soccer team left for Japan on July 17th.
As the new champions of the Asian Cup, China's women's soccer team needs to be assured of their performance in the East Asian Cup, and Tang Jiali doesn't want to miss out on any of her national team's matches.
Upon her return to China, Tang Jiali was called up to the team and took part in training in Qingdao in preparation for her trip to Japan for the East Asian Cup. Thus, in order to cooperate with the whole team in submitting passports and applying for Japanese visas, Tang Jiali had far less time to apply for a Spanish work visa.
Meanwhile, the team asked Tang to fly to Madrid directly after the East Asian Cup after learning that she would be playing in the non-international day East Asian Cup. If she returns to China to apply for a visa, preseason training and integration will be delayed.
After much negotiation, Donjali first applied for a more accessible Schengen sports category. One problem with the Schengen visa, however, is that it is not a work visa. Foreigners entering Spain on this visa can only stay for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period.
This means Tang Jiali must leave the country after three months in Spain. Many international players sign for Spain on Schengen and then return to China to apply for a work visa after obtaining a work permit, such as Wu Lei and many Spanish players in 2019.
In mid-October, the Madrid CFF's work permit for Jiali Tang finally came through, which took four months. At first, CFF Madrid tried to complete the visa conversion with the Immigration Department, then realized it couldn't take a shortcut.In early November, the Ministry of Music told Jiali Tang, "We can't sign your work visa, you need to go home."
Because the team played a lot of games at the time, the club didn't want the players to miss too many games. Based on their past experience, "It doesn't matter if the visa permit is slightly overdue, just hand in all the information. A lot of African and South American players do this and end up getting work visas." Club officials knew little about the adjustments to China's entry quarantine policy. They advised Tang Jiali to delay her return until international match days.
However, Jiali Tang's team was not reassured. After urgent communication, Jiali Tang booked her first flight to China. Madrid goes to China once a week, so the return date was November 8th.
At this point, many days had passed since the work permit was issued by the Ministry of the Interior. According to the regulations, it could only be done within 10 days if it was not overdue. This was almost impossible, but thanks to the club's approval, Don Jarrett began to prepare the information.
Landing in Chongqing in quarantine and returning to Shanghai 5 days later, Tang Jiali was quarantined for 14 days. During this time, with the help of her team and Alipay assistants, she completed the preparation of most of her documents (various translations, including no criminal record + double certification). After the quarantine was lifted, accompanied by community staff, she went to the designated hospital to complete her overseas medical checkup. on December 21st, Tang Jiali completed the signing process.
As soon as the Spanish Consulate General in Shanghai saw the work permit, it shook its head again and again, "This is more than a month overdue, this job cannot be signed."
Tang Jiali and her team were haggard at this point, but they were still making a last-ditch effort.
The team transferred instructions and requirements from the consulate to the club, requiring the team to apply for a new work permit within a week or the information on hand would be overdue and all previous efforts would be burned.
Tang Jiali also synchronized her situation with the national team coach. Shui Qingxia said, "Respect your choice, whether you play soccer or not, you can't fall behind in your training."
After Christmas, the Madrid CFF began to reply to the news: "The club does not have the power to make the Ministry of the Interior solve this problem in a week, but only with the same efficiency as in the first three months, so please understand. In the meantime, we want the players to remain in the team."
After hearing the response from the other side, and after several discussions, Tang Jiali decided in January 2023 to terminate her loan contract with CFF Madrid and return to Shanghai Women's Football.
"Players, clubs and national teams can't afford to wait." Tang Jiali's team said.
"At that moment, I felt sorry for myself, having just joined the team and having a bit of an understanding with my teammates." Donjali said her departure was both helpless and regrettable.
"This return is definitely not the end of my study abroad career, but this year has been particularly important (World Cup + Asian Games + Olympic Preliminaries) and I can't keep consuming it. Next, I hope to be recognized again for the new season of the Women's Super League through the national team and to start again."
"Returning to La Liga is the first choice for the future. I don't want my dream to end halfway and I will consider other possibilities."
After the termination of the contract, Shui Qingxia found Tang Jiali and arranged for her to return to Shanghai to train. After the Spring Festival, master and disciple met in Guangzhou.
At this time, Tang Jiali changed WeChat's all-black avatar to a watercolor on a white background of a cute little girl with a left-handed Bieye.
A year ago, Tang Jiali's passes and Shui Qingxia's transfers allowed the Chinese women's soccer team to turn back South Korea and blossom throughout Asia.
