On May 27, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) officially announced that Dalian People's Football Club would be substituted into the Chinese Super League in the new season, while Shanghai Jiading Huilong Football Club would be substituted into the Chinese First League. At the same time, the CFA decided not to arrange for teams to enter the Chinese B League on a replacement basis, and to give up allowing the 2003 age group U19 National Youth Football Team to participate in the Chinese B League. The new season's Chinese Super League, Chinese League A and Chinese League B will all have 18 teams. This decision will undoubtedly help to ensure the fairness of the league's competition. According to Beijing Youth Daily, the reason why the FA finally decided to cut the U19 national youth team from the B league is quite complicated. The FA will not rule out the possibility of boosting national youth teams at all levels to participate in competitions through overseas training in the future.
It is worth noting that after the Chinese Super League confirmed the replacement of the Dalian Ren team, the question of whether or not teams will also be replaced in the new season's Chinese League A and Chinese League B has made it tricky for the tournament's organizers. One of the key factors is that the three tiers of professional leagues in the country have implemented different policies, especially that no foreign aid is allowed to be used by teams in the second tier.
It is understood that during the discussion process, the proposal of "letting the U21 national youth team of the 2001 age group participate in the Central League" had been put forward. If this proposal is implemented, the Chinese League A will still maintain the size of 18 teams. And the League B will no longer be supplemented to maintain the original "20-team scale".
However, after much discussion, this proposal was eventually abandoned. In the end, the 2003 age group U19 National Youth Football Team, which was scheduled to participate in the new season of the China B League, also decided to give up its participation in the China B tournament. The tournament organizers are likely to agree that Shanghai Jiading Huilong, the first-placed team in Central League A and the seventh-placed team in last season's Central League B, will be entered into the Central League A, while there will be no more teams to be substituted in the Central League B.
In fact, the FA initially considered allowing some of the 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 Chinese B League will not start until July at the earliest. The U19 national youth team of 2003 age group, according to the AFC calendar, will go to Saudi Arabia to participate in the U20 Asian Cup qualifier in September this year. The two tournaments schedule may be in conflict, if the U19 national youth team to participate in the B League, and halfway to play outside the country, may affect the normal operation of the B League. Therefore, it makes sense for the FA to give up the national team to play the league program. The Association will also consider other ways to help the national teams to participate in the game, and may even arrange for the U21 National Youth and U19 National Youth to participate in overseas training and competition.
