At the point of time on January 9, within the city of Beijing, the Football Daily broke the heavy news that the Football Association had shown an unprecedentedly high level of concern for the problem of wage arrears accumulated in the league and had resolutely finalized substantial measures to clear the arrears.
The Football Gazette further disclosed that the core focus of the league's work for the 2023 season is on access, which includes the resolution of historical wage arrears for the 2021 season and earlier, which is divided into three key points in time for 2022; the review of 2022 season wage arrears that will take its place in the review of access for the 2023 season; and the review of access to the ladder. Historical wage arrears and the review of 2022 season wage arrears have emerged as the two main keys to the exercise. Faced with the reality that the number of Chinese Super League teams may be reduced to 16, the CFA has shown firm determination and, at the same time, is well prepared for the situation where the number of teams in the Central League is less than that of the Chinese Super League.
December 31, 2022, marks the third critical point in the history of unpaid wages, which is now in the review process, but it all takes time. Two clubs in the Chinese Super League are facing major difficulties, others are at risk, and still others are at some risk but relatively stable; the situation in the Chinese A-League looks grimmer. Wuhan Changjiang and Hebei are facing the possibility of dissolution, and at least five other clubs are at risk with potential crises; while the China B League has remained relatively stable.
The General Administration of Sport and even the national level have attached great importance to cleaning up the problem of salary arrears in the league, which has undoubtedly injected strong confidence into the CFA. After three years of league withdrawals and reactive responses, the CFA has finally made up its mind to clear up the wage arrears. Under the premise of setting up three buffer nodes, CFA has realized the transformation from passive to active, and this time it even explicitly stated that "even if the number of teams decreases, it will still resolutely clear the salary arrears", which fully reflects the determination of CFA.
