Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard Club, ranked 17th in the 2022 season of the Central League, released an announcement through official channels on the afternoon of the 21st, revealing that the club is weighing its withdrawal from the 2023 season of the professional league. It seems that this may be the last time for the "Eternal Bird" to fly high in the Central League.
The CFA is scrutinizing the entry qualifications of clubs at all levels, and Xinjiang's offer to quit at this time seems to signal that a wave of club disintegration is about to sweep through the country.
The Xinjiang team, formerly known as Hubei Huakel Club, moved to Xinjiang at the end of 2013 and established Xinjiang Football Club. The team has undergone a number of name changes, from "Xinjiang Dabancheng Nahuan" to "Xinjiang Sports Lottery" to the current "Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard". Since 2018, Xinjiang has been relegated to the Central League, but has been "lucky" to be replaced due to the club's dissolution.
However, with the introduction of the CFA's new rules, Xinjiang's hopes for replacement have been dashed. The new rules stipulate that if a team is relegated consecutively, it will be permanently disqualified for replacement. Fans call it the "anti-Birds of Prey clause", which I'm afraid is the last straw that broke Xinjiang's back.
In the announcement, the Xinjiang team made it clear that "the CFA and the Preparatory Group of the Chinese Football Association announced the principle of supplementing the qualification of the professional league in 2023, which directly canceled the qualification of Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard to supplement the China A. ......"
Last summer, the Xinjiang team almost disbanded. When the Football Association (FA) enforced a gender-neutral name policy, Xinjiang was praised for retaining the name "Tianshan Snow Leopard", which is rich in Xinjiang's cultural characteristics. But in fact, Xinjiang was a subsidiary of Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard Business Hotel Co., Ltd. and the club eventually sold all of its shares in the hotel to keep the neutral name.
Xinjiang's parent company is Urumqi Juntai Real Estate Co. but has provided limited financial support to the team in recent years. after its relegation in the 2021 season, the Juntai Group had considered withdrawing from the professional league in favor of investing in youth training. Despite Xinjiang's participation in last season's Central League through a pay cut for all staff, there were rumors of a breakup in the summer.
Xinjiang became the first club to announce its withdrawal from this year's league access process when it began. As the access work progressed, many clubs faced challenges at the access hurdle. The CFA adjusted the access conditions and clarified the deadline for submission of materials. However, the number of clubs submitting materials is very few.
Due to issues such as player salary arrears, many clubs are struggling to meet the hard targets for the 6 tier of the Super League, 5 tier of the Central League and 4 tier of the Central League B. For the clubs concerned, there is uncertainty as to which level of league to participate in, leading to difficulties in signing and preparing teams.
The league's transfer window experienced a number of delays this year, finally opening on February 22nd and closing on April 7th. The Chinese Super League is expected to open in mid-April.
