Full launch of league's second phase of home-and-away format imminent
Based on the clear guidance of the NFF, the CFF has been actively preparing for and seeking to reinstate the home and away system in the second phase of the league. Since the beginning of this season, the CFF has made the resumption of home and away matches a priority, and originally planned to conduct a pilot program in the third and fourth stages of the league. However, as the epidemic prevention and control situation continues to improve, the resumption of home and away matches has been quickly put on the agenda.
It is reported that the National Football Association has submitted the program for the restoration of home and away stadiums to the State General Administration of Sports for approval. Once the approval is passed, the resumption work will start in full. Given that the league was suspended in late July to allow the East Asian Cup to run smoothly, the NFF plans to use this window of time to complete the home and away restoration work in one go, ensuring that the home and away system will be resumed directly in the second phase of the league.
Currently, all the preparations are centered around the key time point of August 6th. However, given the specifics of the implementation in different cities, it will undoubtedly be a tough test for the CFF and the Super League clubs to complete such complex preparations before the start of the second phase of the league.
In the first half of this year, the National Football Association (NFA) consulted the Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs on the resumption of home and away matches, and received the full support of 18 clubs. However, various challenges will be encountered in the actual operation, especially the pressure on the clubs' economy caused by the epidemic, with many clubs facing the predicament of not being able to make ends meet, and players even owing wages for up to a year. In such circumstances, resuming home operations will also entail additional expenses. The NFF and CFF need to work together to think through and implement solutions to the practical difficulties.
