In the shadow of the unexpected loss of CFA president Chen Xuyuan, the buzz in Chinese soccer has climbed dramatically. With the AFC Champions League and the new Chinese Super League season back in full swing, fans have been focusing on the reform of the FA. Recently, there have been three shocking announcements in the Chinese soccer world, so let's take a look at them.
The first news originated from Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard Football Club. Today, the club officially announced that it has withdrawn from the 2023 season of the professional league. The Xinjiang team revealed that the decision stemmed from a number of unfavorable factors, with the club's investor, Urumqi Juntai Real Estate, unable to continue to support the team's operations. The departure of the Xinjiang team made countless fans emotional, but in the face of reality, they have no choice. Established in 2014, the Xinjiang team has been playing in the Central League for 9 seasons, and has been longing to enter the hall of fame of the Chinese Super League. However, the team has invested 350 million yuan in the past nine years, but was relegated for four consecutive seasons during the downturn of Chinese soccer. Luckily, they had returned to the first division, but the new rules of the Football Association in the new season forced the team to be relegated to the second division, which eventually became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Last month, Wuhan Changjiang announced that they were disbanding and withdrawing from the Chinese Super League (CSL), and in the month since then, another CSL team has opted out. For the current Chinese soccer environment, Xinjiang's exit may just be the tip of the iceberg, and more teams may follow suit in the future. The other big news concerns Jankovic. After the Chen Xuyuan incident, the selection of the national soccer team was stalled for a while. However, this year is a crucial year for the national football team, with world qualifiers, the Asian Cup and the Asian Games all coming up. The FA urgently need to quickly determine the national football coach. According to media reports, on February 13, the Association held a special meeting in Foshan, decided by Jankovic to take charge of the national football coaching whip, another coach will be responsible for the Asian Games. Jankovic is no stranger to Chinese fans, he has coached the U23 team, and in the East Asian Cup selection team during the temporary coaching whip, achieved good results. But this time coaching the national soccer team may just be a stopgap measure. As for Shanghai Port, the Chinese Super League powerhouse failed to meet fans' expectations last season when it finished in fourth place. This season, Shanghai Port's goal is to win the Super League title. For this reason, the team has started the preparation training for the new season early. Official photos show that the local players have basically arrived, and foreign aid player Oscar has also appeared on the training ground, and other foreign aid players will return to the team at the end of the month. Oscar's return will undoubtedly strengthen the team and make it a strong contender for the Super League title in the new season. However, the team's new head coach has yet to be selected, which may be a major challenge for them.
