An unanswered question has emerged as to whether foreigners such as Larsen of the Dalian Ren can contribute consistently. File photo, image via Xinhua.
In the early morning of May 24, Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic announced with a bang that it had withdrawn from the Chinese Super League and disbanded its team, without triggering the expected chaos of a 17-team field. According to a report in the New Beijing News, the return of the Dalian People's Team to the Chinese Super League was almost a foregone conclusion. In order to mitigate the impact of Chongqing's disbandment, the grouping pattern of the three Chinese Super League divisions remains unchanged, with the Dalian People's team set to open the first phase of the new season in Haikou.
When Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic came to a standstill due to unpaid wages, the CFA and CFF preparatory team originally intended to maintain the 17-team Chinese Super League format without replacement teams. However, as the league access work had been completed and all teams were prepared according to their participation levels, the CFA and CFF initiated a study on the replacement teams on the day of Chongqing's withdrawal for the sake of fair competition and the league's image, and eventually reached a consensus.
According to the rules of replacement, Dalian Ren, who were relegated from the Chinese Super League to the Central League, naturally became the first choice for replacement, and on May 25th, Dalian Ren submitted an application for replacement. Despite the success of the application, Dalian People still need to face a series of challenges. Under the leadership of new manager Xie Hui, the team has been preparing for the Chinese League of Nations with a full Chinese squad. Due to FIFA's transfer ban, the club is almost at its wits' end when it comes to the introduction of foreign aid - last season's foreign aiders cannot be recalled unless the salary issue is resolved. It is reported that Danielson, Larsen and Boateng have not yet terminated their contracts with the club.
This year's Chinese Super League will be held in Dalian, Meizhou and Haikou. Although the Dalian People's Club had hoped to stay in Dalian, but due to the division grouping plan has long been determined, and other Chinese Super League teams have gone to their respective regions to isolate the preparation for the war, adjustments have been impossible, so the Dalian People's Team will go to Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic had participated in the Haikou region for the first stage of the game, will be with Shandong Taishan, Changchun Yatai, Guangzhou City, Henan Songshan Longmen and Zhejiang team in the same group.
Replacement team participation is not only the problem of the Premier League, with the Dalian people to replace the return of the Premier League, the Central League is also facing the embarrassing situation of "18 teams but lack of one".
There is no word yet on whether any of the teams in the Central League 1 and Central League 2 will be substituting for the competition.
