In an emergency convening on the 3rd, the Chinese Football Association ("CFA") and the preparatory team of the CFL jointly convened the club representatives of the Chinese Super League, the Chinese First League and the Chinese Second League, and started an important meeting on the line. At the end of the meeting, the CFA quickly issued a notice on the work of the 2022 season for the Chinese Super League, the Chinese First Division and the Chinese Second Division, in which it announced in detail the list of clubs that will be admitted to the three leagues this year, and proposed a solution to the problem of unpaid wages and the corresponding penalties for the clubs.
The National Football Association (NFA) has revealed that 18 Super League clubs, 17 First Division clubs and 22 Second Division clubs will be cleared for entry for the 2022 season, according to a Xinhua news agency report.
It is worth noting that China A Guizhou Football Club and China B Sichuan Minzu Football Club did not gain access to the new season. Guizhou FC failed to meet the AFC's access requirements due to overdue international wage arrears, while Sichuan Minzu FC lost its league access because it failed to submit its access materials within the stipulated 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, which participated in the Champion League last year, have all gained the qualification for the new season of China B League.
The preparatory team of the National Football Association (NFA) and the Chinese Football League (CFL) will finalize the teams for all levels of professional leagues based on the actual situation of the clubs' participation confirmation.
The access to the professional soccer league for the 2022 season is mainly focused on solving the problem of salary arrears of some clubs. On the basis of balancing the interests of players and the actual situation of clubs, the NFF has formulated a phased solution to wage arrears, aiming to protect the legitimate rights and interests of players, coaches and club staff, while at the same time taking into account the operating conditions of clubs, providing them with a certain amount of time to resolve the wage arrears issue, and drawing on the strengths of the local government and all sectors of the community in order to push forward the reform.
Accordingly, some clubs with wage arrears problems have also been conditionally granted access after submitting specific solutions. In order to protect the relevant interests of the players, the NFA has also formulated appropriate solutions and accompanying penalties for such clubs for wage arrears.
The National Football Association (NFA) clearly requires that clubs should not have new wage arrears in the 2022 season. For the 2021 season and before, three time nodes have been set: no less than 30% of the total salary arrears to be resolved before July 31; no less than 70% of the total salary arrears to be resolved before October 31; and all salary arrears to be resolved before December 31. The relevant clubs are required to submit to the NFA a salary arrears repayment form signed by all coaches, players and staff before these time nodes. At the same time, the National Football Association has also clarified the corresponding penalties:
1. Clubs that fail to settle no less than 30% of the total amount of salary arrears by July 31 will be prohibited from registering new players in the second transfer window of the 2022 season and will be deducted three league points.
2. Clubs that fail to settle no less than 70% of the total amount of salary arrears by October 31 will be deducted 6 league points.
3. Clubs that fail to settle all salary arrears by December 31 will face relegation or disqualification from admission.
For Chinese Super League clubs that fail to resolve all wage arrears on schedule, they are required to reach an agreement with the persons whose wages are owed to them, sign to confirm the agreement and submit it for record, and resolve the wage arrears strictly in accordance with the time points in the agreement for record. If it fails to settle the issue on time, the penalty will be enforced with reference to the above.
