In a Feb. 1 update, FIFA's transfer matching system, TMS, delivered the news that the first international transfer window for Chinese soccer in 2023 is set to kick off on Feb. 20 and come to a close on April 10th. With this, the new Chinese Super League season is expected to officially kick off in late April.
Looking back to the end of last year, the TMS system was originally scheduled to launch the first Chinese soccer international transfer window of the year on January 16th. However, on the very same day of the 16th, the system was suddenly updated to announce that the opening of the window had been postponed to February 1st, while the latest version further postponed the timetable to February 20th.
Usually, the opening and closing of the transfer window of national or regional associations will closely match the schedule of their own leagues. For example, the window usually opens one month to two months before the start of the league, and closes one week to two weeks before the league, so that clubs have enough time to complete registration and lineup adjustments after locking in new recruits.
It is worth noting that unless a member association makes a special request to FIFA, all registered players, including foreign players, must complete their transfers between domestic clubs and must take place within the period of the international transfer window set by FIFA. This is why some Chinese Super League clubs announced reinforcements during the Spring Festival but failed to complete the player registration and transfer process.
The latest information from the TMS system reveals that the first international transfer window of the year will start on February 20 and last until April 10, thus signaling that the opening game of the Chinese Super League will be played in late April. During this period, the Chinese men's national team will face New Zealand in two warm-up matches during the March 20-28 international match days. Although the national team's first training program has yet to be announced, the Chinese Men's Asian Games Team has made it clear that the first training session of the month will open soon. Players will return to their respective clubs in time to prepare for the league after the international matches.
According to a reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily, the preparatory team of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the Chinese Football Confederation (CFC) has recently been intensifying its research on league-related issues. Regarding the progress of clubs' wage arrears and the size of the league at all levels for the new season, the specific ways of player registration and transfers will be announced next month.
In addition, the TMS system update also revealed that this year's second transfer window, the summer transfer window, will open from July 1, extend to August 1, and finally close on August 31st. Considering the two extensions of the winter transfer window in domestic soccer this year, the possibility of further extensions of the window in the future due to force majeure factors cannot be ruled out.
