In an emergency online meeting on the 3rd, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the Preparatory Group of the CFA convened the clubs of the Chinese Super League, the Chinese First League and the Chinese Second League to discuss the preparatory work for the new season. After the meeting, the Chinese Football Association quickly issued a notice on the work related to the 2022 season for the Chinese Super League, the Chinese First Division and the Chinese Second Division, and released to the public the list of clubs that will be admitted to the three leagues for the new season. At the same time, it also introduced a solution to the problem of clubs' unpaid wages and corresponding penalties.
A total of 18 Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs, 17 Chinese First Division (CFA) clubs and 22 Chinese Second Division (CSB) clubs have passed the access audit for the 2022 season, according to Xinhua News Agency. However, China League 1 Guizhou Football Club and China League 2 Sichuan Minzu Football Club failed to gain access to the new season for various reasons. Guizhou FC failed to meet AFC's access requirements due to unresolved international wage arrears, while Sichuan Minzu FC lost its qualification due to failure to submit access materials on time.
At the same time, Jinan Xingzhou Football Club, Nantong Haimen Kejiayuan Football Club, Tai'an Tian Kuang Football Club, Hainan Star Professional Football Club and Wuhan Jiangcheng Football Club, who were in the Champion League last season, have all gained the qualification for the new season of China B League.
The preparatory groups of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the China Football League (CFL) will finalize the teams for the professional leagues at all levels on the basis of the confirmation of participation by clubs. At present, the admission work for the new season of the professional soccer league is focusing on solving the problem of salary arrears of some clubs. To this end, the CFA has taken into account the interests of players and the actual situation of clubs, and has formulated a set of plans to resolve wage arrears in batches, aiming to protect the legitimate rights and interests of players, coaches and club staff, and at the same time give clubs a certain amount of time and space to improve their operating conditions.
Under this program, some clubs with wage arrears have also been conditionally granted access after submitting specific solutions. At the same time, the Chinese Football Association has also formulated a series of complementary penalties to ensure that clubs resolve wage arrears within a specified period of time. Specifically, clubs must eliminate the occurrence of new wage arrears within the 2022 season and resolve different percentages of wage arrears by July 31, October 31 and December 31, 2021 respectively. Clubs that fail to meet the deadline will face penalties of deduction of league points, relegation or disqualification from admission.
For Chinese Super League clubs, if they fail to fully resolve the wage arrears as of December 31, 2022, the clubs must reach a settlement agreement with the persons whose wages are owed to them and resolve the wage arrears in accordance with the timeframes set out in the filed agreement. Those who fail to follow the agreement will be penalized with reference to the above penalties.
