Preparing for the Qatar World Preliminary Asian Zone 12, China's men's football team is about to assemble around August 17th. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the Preparatory Group of the Operational League have been actively preparing for the event, and have recently had an in-depth discussion on the plan for the remaining matches of the Chinese Super League (CSL). The latest progress shows that due to the impact of the epidemic, all parties favor the Chinese Super League to carry out 22 rounds of matches. Among them, the remaining 9 rounds of the first phase are planned to be held from July 18th to August 12th. Prior to that, the 5th round of bye matches between Henan Songshan Longmen and Guangzhou, and Beijing Guoan and Hebei are scheduled to be played on July 15 and 16 respectively. According to this plan, the Super League teams will play a round of matches every three days on average, the density of competition has increased significantly.
Likelihood of full 30 rounds of Super League reduced
According to the latest schedule released by the World Football Federation and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the 12-team tournament will start on September 2 this year and end on March 29 the following year. At present, it seems that the World Football Federation in the sponsor pressure is still inclined to maintain the 12 strong home and away match system unchanged. In this context, the CFA needs to do a good job externally, to create favorable conditions for the national football team to compete, and internal cooperation to do a good job in the preparation and protection services.
Since this Monday, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the preparatory group of the operational league have been meeting constantly to exchange details of the Chinese Super League schedule and system. However, by the 12 rounds of the first six rounds of the centralized arrangements in September, October and November this year, the national football cross-participation in home and away matches need to meet the world, the domestic epidemic prevention and quarantine rules and other factors, it is very difficult to play all 30 rounds of this season's Premier League according to the established plan.
Super League could end in early January next year
Before the start of the exchange, the national team's coaching staff headed by Li Tie had already made a proposal to bring forward the team's first phase of training ahead of the Top 12 tournament. According to their plan, the national football team is scheduled to regroup around August 17th.
The national football team arrived in Suzhou late at night on June 17, Beijing time, and was required to undergo 14 days of centralized isolation in accordance with epidemic prevention regulations. After the quarantine period is over, the whole team, even if they are disbanded and sent to different parts of the country, need to follow the regulations, independent observation for 7 days. This means that the earliest they can return to the club until July 8th. Taking into account the international players after the rest, but also need to re-integrate with the club team, so the earliest time for the restart of the Premier League will be in mid-July.
Based on the above timeline calculations, the CFA and the Operational League Preparatory Group have drawn up several sets of competition proposals for the remaining competitions of the Chinese Super League this season. Considering that the league can not be arranged in September, October, November (the national team 12 strong preparation, competition cycle), so for the Super League whether to reduce the distance, how to reduce the distance, all parties have made a lot of effort, some people even proposed to the whole season of the Super League halved to 15 rounds, that is, a single round-robin tournament system proposal.
However, given that "halving the distance" would be highly detrimental to the image of the league, the integrity of the competition, the quality of the competition, and would lead to dissatisfaction from all league stakeholders, including sponsors, the motion was basically rejected by all parties. Combined with various practical factors, the plan of "carrying out two stages to accumulate 22 rounds" is relatively easier for all parties to accept. According to this plan, the first phase of the Super League this season, the remaining 9 rounds of the tournament must be played before the start of the 12 rounds of the tournament, the second phase of the 8 rounds of the tournament will begin to plan to arrange in early December to early January the following year, that is, the completion of the tournament across the year. This arrangement, relatively convenient for the national football team to prepare for the second half of January the following year, the seventh and eighth round of the 12-round tournament.
Super League teams are involved in a round every three days or so
Compared to the later stages of the Chinese Super League, the remaining 9 rounds of the first stage and the two 5th round fixtures of the tournament schedule how to arrange properly, is the current parties need to tackle the problem. From the recent exchange of information between CFA and the preparatory team of the operational league, these 9 rounds of matches will be played before the start of the new training session of the national football team. Specifically, the 6th round of the tournament is scheduled to start on July 18th. Among them, the 6th round to the 14th round of the Guangzhou tournament plan were July 18, 21, 24, 27, 30 and August 2, 5, 8, 11; Suzhou tournament plan overall staggered one day later, meaning that this stage of the tournament is scheduled to be played on August 12, finished. And from this point to the national football assembly, there are exactly 5 days or so, can meet the need for rest and recuperation of the national football. The fifth round of two important matches are planned for July 15, 16 respectively.
If the above plan is finally adopted, then it means that the Super League teams must participate in a round of Super League matches every 3 days on average, such a density is absolutely unprecedented, the test of the teams is also unprecedentedly severe. Such a density is absolutely unprecedented, and the test for each team is also unprecedentedly severe. The over-intensive journey will cause huge wear and tear on personnel, which will also increase the chances of players, especially international players, suffering from injuries and other accidents. Prior to this, including Fernando, Wei Shihao, Wang Gang and other international players of the injury to some extent is also from its in the league, "cumulative strain into disease". Therefore, how to "protect" international players, all parties must act prudently.
As of June 26, the CFA and the preparatory group for the operational league have not yet released the final operational plan for the Chinese Super League. The parties also plan to have an in-depth exchange of relevant details in Suzhou next week and finalize the implementation plan.
