Chinese Super League Foreign Aid Policy Discussion
According to the Chinese Football Association (CFA), the limit of foreign aid quotas in the Chinese Super League (CSL) may be relaxed next season, aiming to incentivize foreign aid to promote the growth of international players.
However, the practice of "treating the head when there is a headache" has long been commonplace. If we blindly increase the number of foreign aid simply because the number of foreign aid is insufficient, it is just like the mistake of the arms race in the past, which lacked targeted reinforcement and capacity enhancement. Therefore, the design of this strategy is inappropriate.
The Indian Super League and the Saudi Arabian League are examples of the opposite. The Indian Super League is as hot as the Chinese Super League, and the level and number of foreign aiders are also quite abundant. But what is the result? The level of players remains the same, results are poor, and reforms have not been put in place; the same is true for the Saudi Arabian league. Despite nominal restrictions, the frenzy of foreign aid purchases has been enough to make an impact; stars such as Crowe and Benzema are dazzling, but are Milinkovic, Neves and others enough to sustain them? And have Saudi Arabia's achievements changed?
Even if the Chinese Super League relaxes the restrictions on foreign aid and opens up purchasing, the impact on performance may be limited. Change your mind. Even if they are allowed to buy, who would dare to make a real bid? Who can really buy the talent they want? The ever-changing situation is frightening. If you invest real money and don't see results, the blame will be on you. No one wants to get into this mess.
Relying on foreign aid to squeeze the survival space of international players is a feasible strategy, but the last period of Guangzhou team players' multi-trillion-dollar price is not in line with the results, especially in the contribution of the national team, which has violated the rule. Therefore, we should really look for the rules rather than going to the other extreme.
There is no need to go for top stars like Crowe, Messi, Benzema etc when choosing foreigners. We can't afford to buy or play at that level. What China needs are players with solid fundamentals who really know how to play soccer, such as Jet Croatia and Norway from Eastern Europe, Japan and South Korea. If they can come to our local league, it will certainly enhance the value of international players from the basic skills and technical and tactical levels, to ensure that the basic skills of passing, ball control, dribbling and shooting are practiced, thus significantly improving performance. If nothing else, a return to the second-rate level of the Asian zone is certainly not out of the question. Compared to the likes of Japan, South Korea, Iran and Australia, there is even less fear of the likes of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
In that case, 8.5 foreign aid places are enough, so why worry about not making it to the World Cup?
Therefore, it is feasible to relax the restrictions on foreign aid, but extremes should be avoided; in terms of purchasing, professional players who can really make a difference should be selected; and in terms of policy, consistency should be maintained to avoid frequent changes. Operate in this way, perhaps there is still a play.
