On May 27, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) officially announced that Dalian People's Football Club (DLFC) would be substituted into the Chinese Super League (CSL) for the new season, while Shanghai Jiading Huilong Football Club (SHJHFC) would be substituted into the Chinese First Division (CFA). At the same time, the CFA announced that it would no longer substitute teams into the China B League, and decided to give up the 2003 age group U19 National Youth Football Team to participate in the China B League. The new season of the Chinese Super League, Chinese A League and Chinese B League will adopt the "18-team scale", which will undoubtedly help to maintain fair competition in the league. A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily revealed that the CFA finally decided to cut the U19 national youth team from the B league for complicated reasons. The CFA will not rule out overseas training and other means to help all levels of national youth teams.
It is reported that after confirming the replacement of a team in the Chinese Super League, the question of whether the Chinese League A and Chinese League B will also replace the team accordingly is quite tricky for the organizers. One of the key reasons is that the three professional leagues in China have different policies, in particular, no foreign aid is allowed to be used in the second league.
During the consultation process, the idea of having the 2001 age group U21 national youth team (the new national Olympic team) join the Central League was proposed. If this proposal is adopted, the size of the League will remain at 18 teams. In the case of League B, no additional teams would be added, and the established "20-team size" would be maintained.
However, this proposal was eventually abandoned after much discussion. In the end, the 2003 age group U19 National Youth Football Team, which was originally planned to participate in the China B League, also decided to give up its participation. It is likely that the organizers will agree that Shanghai Jiading Huilong, the 7th place team in the Central B League, will be substituted into the Central A League, while there will be no more substitutions for teams in the Central B League.
In fact, the Football Association has considered arranging for national teams to participate in the corresponding level of the league, with the initial intention of providing these teams with more practical opportunities during the epidemic. However, the participation of national teams in professional club competitions will affect the competition. For example, the new season of the China B League will not start until July at the earliest. The 2003 age group U19 national youth team will go to Saudi Arabia to participate in the U20 Asian Cup qualifier in September this year according to the AFC calendar. There may be a conflict between the schedules of the two tournaments, and if the U19 National Youth Football Team participates in the tournament and goes to play outside the country in the middle of the tournament, it may affect the normal operation of the China B League. Therefore, it is reasonable to give up the national team to play the league program. The CFA will also consider other ways to help the national teams to implement the game, and may even arrange for the U21 National Youth Football Team and U19 National Youth Football Team to participate in overseas training and competition.
