On the eve of Valentine's Day, the official website of the State General Administration of Sports (SGA) disclosed that Chen Xuyuan, the chairman of the CFA, is suspected of major disciplinary violations and is currently facing a review by the Discipline Inspection Group of the State General Administration of Sports (SGA) and the Hubei Supervisory Committee. At the same time, the official website of the CFA also issued a statement against the false news that "Chen Xuyuan accepted the interview and gave himself 9 points".
Photo: Source of Chen Xuyuan's review - CFA official website
A number of senior officials have been investigated by the FA under Chen Xuyuan's leadership, including former national soccer coach Li Tie, former secretary general Liu Yi and former executive deputy secretary general Chen Yongliang. Since being parachuted in as chairman of the FA in 2019, Chen Xuyuan has failed to significantly improve the level of Chinese soccer, with reform measures yielding little results.
During this period, 35 teams in the Chinese professional league were disbanded, and the Chinese Super League ceased to be even the top league in Asia, and was jokingly called "the league that owes wages" by fans and players.
Chen Xuyuan, a native of Shanghai, was a dockworker before earning a master's degree in business administration from Shanghai Maritime University. He has built Shanghai Port Group from a state-owned enterprise to a Chinese Super League champion. In addition, he has a deep soccer complex and was active in the Shanghai Port amateur soccer circle when he was young.
After taking over Shanghai Port, Chen Xuyuan was outspoken, emphasizing that the cost of foreign aid introduction should be transparent and the price of internal aid is inflated, and calling for Chinese soccer to take the right path and avoid shortcuts.
In 2019, Chen Xuyuan was unanimously elected as the new CFA president, becoming the first full-time president in the history of CFA. After taking office, he pushed for salary and investment restrictions and a neutral name policy, criticized golden dollar soccer, and emphasized the importance of reform.
However, the restriction of salary and investment has not made Chinese soccer towards health and stability, but has led to the decline of the strength of the Chinese Super League, reduced attention, clubs operating difficulties, and even the phenomenon of wage arrears.
Now, Chen Xuyuan is suspected of violating discipline and law, the road to China's soccer reform is a long way to go.
