Wuhan Sanzhen Football Club has written a brand new chapter in China's professional soccer league, winning the Chinese B, Chinese A and Chinese Super League titles for three consecutive years. the awarding of the 2022 Chinese Super League championship witnessed this glorious moment. (ic photo/image)
However, who would have guessed that this year's Chinese Super League title would be decided by two teams that withdrew from the competition? 2022 season ended with Wuhan Sanzhen and Shandong Taishan tied on points, and the title was not revealed until the last minute. It is worth noting that this is the ninth time since the inception of the Chinese Super League in 2004 that the title has been decided at the end of the season. However, on December 30th, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Beijing Guoan announced that they had abandoned their matches due to a lack of personnel, which made the battle for the title particularly interesting.
Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Beijing Guoan both lost 0:3, and Wuhan Sanzhen successfully defended their Chinese Super League title by virtue of goal difference. This unexpected victory made Wuhan Sanzhen the first team to win the Chinese Super League title for three consecutive years, and also made people wonder how the withdrawal of the game has become a key factor in the ownership of the title.
Behind the success of Wuhan Sanzhen is the difficult journey of the entire Chinese professional soccer league. Over the past three years, the league has been riddled with unpaid wages, and the CFA has even allowed teams to "start the game first and pay back the money later". In this context, many clubs dissolved or quit the professional league, including many luxury teams. According to statistics, from 2020 to 2022, a total of 31 teams quit the professional league, including 4 Chinese Super League teams, 8 Chinese A teams, 19 Chinese B teams.
Hebei team player Zhou Xuan went on an early vacation after the last round of league matches. He told the Southern Weekend reporter that the team has not been professionalized from the past, and the training is not systematic, just finish the game. Hebei team has been trapped in the vortex of unpaid wages, the players' lives are plagued.
In order to deal with the problem of unpaid wages, the CFA has relaxed the entry threshold for clubs in the Chinese Super League, the Chinese First Division and the Chinese Second Division, allowing teams to "start the game first and pay back the money later". Although this policy has alleviated the plight of the clubs to a certain extent, it has also made the problem of salary arrears more and more serious.
In the face of adversity, players have a difficult road to defend their rights. Because of the disputed relationship between the club and the players, the court will not necessarily accept such cases. Even if the rights are defended through arbitration or legal channels, it is difficult to ensure that the players can get their due wages.
Under such circumstances, players can only choose to endure the pain of salary arrears, or give up the wages owed in exchange for a "no salary dispute" certificate, to find a new way out.
In order to cope with the debt crisis, many clubs have chosen to reform their shares and introduce shareholders from state-owned enterprises (SOEs). However, it is not easy for state-owned enterprises to take over soccer clubs, and huge debts and asset liquidation have become key challenges.
On the road to the development of the professional soccer league, Chinese soccer is still facing many challenges. How to solve the problem of unpaid wages, how to improve the level of the league and how to attract more investors are all urgent issues.
Source: CFA official website, team announcements Source: Southern Weekend reporter Wu Chao (Feng Qingchao/Photo)
