On April 25th in Beijing, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) unveiled new policies for the new professional league season. One of the most significant changes compared to the previous season is the expansion of the relegation quota. 2022 season of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League A will implement the policy of "promotion three drop three", while the last two of the Chinese League B will be relegated to the Chinese Championship, while the top four of the Championship can be directly promoted to the Chinese B. This is the first time since the establishment of the Chinese Super League to implement the policy of "promotion three drop three", which will undoubtedly give the teams to the Chinese Championship. This is the first time since the inception of the Chinese Super League that the policy of "promotion to three and relegation to three" has been implemented, undoubtedly bringing greater challenges to the relegation of teams.
Last season, the Chinese Super League completed its expansion, the number of teams increased from 16 to 18, and the number of league rounds also increased to 34. However, due to the influence of the external investment environment, some of the Chinese Super League teams chose the "bad" strategy. Last season, the Chinese Super League adopted a 0.5+0.5 promotion and relegation mechanism, and as a result, the two bottom-ranked teams, Qingdao and Dalian People's Team, lost in both rounds of the Chinese Super League play-offs and were eventually relegated. Meanwhile, the rare scene of four Central League One teams making a run at the Premier League together has also occurred. The Chinese Super League will continue to play 34 rounds of matches this season, and if the system of two promotions and two relegations continues to be used, the motivation of the mid- and lower-tier teams may decline and the quality of the league will be affected. Increasing the number of relegation places is precisely to prevent the middle and lower relegation teams from "muddling through" and to improve the overall competitiveness of the league.
It is reported that the reason for withdrawing the play-off format used in the past two seasons is because the Chinese Super League is expected to play a full 34 rounds this season. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) hopes that clubs will be able to compete throughout the season to determine their ranking in the league based on their true strengths. The play-off format, with its high degree of chance, may discourage teams from going all out for the best result in every match in the league, and may even lead to injustice.
