Years like a shuttle, do not realize that the spring of 2023 has been quietly to the middle, and the new season of the Chinese Super League battle, but also in the April spring breeze quietly kicked off.
With the new season approaching, the access qualification of the Chinese Super League clubs is imminent. Recently, the domestic authoritative soccer reports disclosed that the Football Association explicitly requires that the 2023 season clubs access to the declaration period is scheduled from February 10 to March 20, and access to the qualification declaration channel will be officially closed on March 3rd.
In other words, there is less than a month left in the window for clubs to submit their admission certificates. It is reported that there are still seven Chinese Super League clubs that have failed to pay last season's players' salaries and bonuses on time. If they are unable to make up the outstanding payments within the time limit set by the FA, these seven teams will risk losing their CSL participation next month.
As we all know, due to multiple factors, the Chinese Super League has fallen into an unprecedented trough in recent years. The three-season competition system has caused clubs to lose their most central source of income - home ticket sales and sponsor advertising.
This, coupled with the neutral name policy implemented by the Football Association, has caused many companies to lose interest in sponsoring soccer, which has been the last straw in crushing many Chinese Super League clubs. Under the double blow, many clubs have serious wage arrears problems.
As a result, Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic Team announced its dissolution at the beginning of last season. Even though other clubs were persuaded by the FA to participate, the players were no longer interested in playing, resulting in the team's performance falling apart. The former Chinese Super League giants, Guangzhou and Hebei, struggled to win a single match in the league and were eventually relegated to the Central League.
Although some of the Chinese Super League teams have completed their relegation tasks, the overall situation is still not optimistic. Currently, Cangzhou Lions, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are ranked 13th to 15th, and the situation is so precarious that they may be the first to become absent from the Super League in the new season.
If these three teams don't make it to the new Chinese Super League season, the FA will have to pick three teams from China's first division to fill in. However, most of the first division clubs are struggling to make ends meet and it is not easy for them to maintain the status quo, so how can they afford to participate in the Chinese Super League?
As a result, the FA is also actively seeking a solution to save the market, and they are considering liberalizing restrictions on the relocation of domestic professional clubs in the new season. However, given the current state of the Chinese Super League, it is feared that few regions will be willing to accept clubs from other regions.
From the current situation, the only way for the major clubs in the third tier of the domestic league to regain hope is to temporarily abolish the policy of gender-neutral club names. But the head of the Football Association, Chen Xuyuan, as a strong supporter and implementer of the neutral name policy, would be eating his own words if he gave up his idea.
It is worth waiting to see if Chen Xuyuan is willing to discard his preconceptions and deny his policies for the sake of the smooth running of the Chinese Super League.
