Despite the fact that the Chinese Super League is in its off-season, clubs continue to have a tight schedule because in order to return to the field next season, they must first pass the selection hurdle of the Football Association.
According to internal information, the Football Association has introduced a new AFC access mechanism this year, and its requirements are unprecedentedly strict. Therefore, the qualification of the clubs can not be faulted, once the submission of materials failed to meet the system standards, may face the risk of the next season is not in the Chinese Super League.
The Chinese Super League (CSL) has been on a downward spiral since the "golden dollar soccer" bubble burst. At the end of each season, people think the league has reached the bottom, but in fact, the coming season will be even worse.
Affected by the epidemic, the domestic real estate industry continues to be in the doldrums, and the Football Association has also launched a series of regulatory policies in the past two years. At present, the Chinese Super League clubs are generally facing difficulties. According to soccer media reports, only three of the 16 teams in the Chinese Super League this season are free of salary arrears.
Even Beijing Guoan, the former Chinese Super League (CSL) champion, is in debt distress. Its parent company, Sino Group, is strapped for cash and relies on support from the municipal government to pay the salaries of its players and coaches.
Beijing Guoan had rivaled Guangzhou Evergrande, and other clubs are in even more precarious situations. Recently, Zhejiang, Wuhan Sanzhen, Cangzhou Lions, Dalian and Shenzhen were rumored to be possibly disbanded. Some of the clubs hosted by the Sports Bureau are feared to be unsustainable once they lose their support.
Against this backdrop, numerous clubs were unable to submit their qualification declarations on time. As in the past, the FA has extended the deadline for declaration. However, clubs that lacked financial support, such as the Shenzhen team with debts of up to 3.5 billion yuan, struggled to complete their declarations even with a one-month extension.
In addition to internal operational problems, the Shenzhen team is also directly affected by the external environment. As we all know, the national soccer team has not been able to reach the World Cup for many years, and its level is deteriorating. The Chinese women's soccer team is also facing a similar predicament.
In this situation, Chinese soccer has fallen into a new round of low, the enthusiasm of fans and the media continues to cool, and the attention of the domestic league is far less than in the era of "Golden Dollar Soccer". In addition, the neutral policy of the Football Association (FA) has weakened the willingness of enterprises to invest in soccer. Lack of capital injection makes it difficult for clubs to survive on their own, and they are facing the crisis of dissolution.
As a result, some people in the soccer industry have pointed out that the Chinese Super League has not yet bottomed out, and the life of the clubs may be even more difficult next year. The only way to reduce team operating costs is for old players to retire and new players to become the mainstay.
In other words, it will take three to four years for clubs to optimize their remuneration structures before they can achieve financial equilibrium. In the meantime, some clubs may announce their dissolution due to their inability to support themselves.
As a result, the number of Chinese Super League clubs dissolving will increase in the next two years. Without the addition of new Central League A clubs, the size of the league may be further reduced. In extreme cases, it may even go back to the first year of A-A, with the number of teams in the league dropping to 12...
