China Super League (soccer league)
soccer league
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Winter training is in full swing and the 2022 season is drawing near. However, the qualification for the new season of the third tier league is shrouded in doubt, and the crux of the problem is the prevailing salary arrears plight of the clubs.
Season 2021.
China Super League (soccer league)
The league is wide open to wage arrears, with at least 3/4 of the clubs, or no fewer than 12, in varying degrees of arrears.
The reasons for the wage arrears are self-evident, but what is more important is how to solve the problem.2021 Nearly a month has passed since the end of the season without any news of the clubs' wage arrears situation easing. Some clubs have even exacerbated their problems, such as Hebei Football Club, which was scheduled to assemble on February 8, but eventually announced the postponement of the assembly due to the slow progress of equity reform.
This situation is not unique to Hebei Football Club. Some clubs that have completed equity reform have also fallen into wage arrears due to post-reform obstacles, and some clubs that are in the process of reforming are experiencing difficulties with the reform itself, and have even less time to worry about wage arrears. As for some clubs that have not yet reformed, the existing investors are facing difficulties and their willingness to invest has decreased significantly, and they have begun to pay wages in arrears frequently.
The start of the league season has not yet been finalized. Normally, the 2022 season
China Super League (soccer league)
The league will kick off at the end of April, but if it takes four
China Super League (soccer league)
The club is fully committed to the AFC Champions League and has not ruled out a late May start. As for
China Super League (soccer league)
There are also some difficulties with whether to open up home and away.
Regardless of the format, whether the tournament starts at the end of April or at the end of May, typically the
China Super League (soccer league)
League access should be completed by late February/early March. Even if there is a delay, mid-March should be the limit.
As it stands, no matter when the access inspection is conducted and what the deadline is, the problem of unpaid wages cannot be substantially resolved. Therefore, the access inspection has become a major problem for the Football Association.
soccer league
Perhaps the only way to do this is to relax the access criteria. In fact, factors affecting clubs' access checks go far beyond unpaid wages to include other access criteria such as ladder construction. As it stands, a number of clubs are having considerable problems in these areas.
Of course, the relaxation of the criteria for admission to inspection of arrears of wages is not without justification. For the second consecutive year
China Super League (soccer league)
The leagues were all played against the backdrop of the epidemic, with all three tiers of the league competing on a conference basis and failing to complete their due rounds for the second consecutive year. Against this background, it is acceptable that there has been some relaxation in the access checks. However, the issue of unpaid wages must be put on the agenda.
Objectively speaking, the Chinese professional soccer league has entered a low period and a period of change. In this trough period, the survival of the clubs is difficult, and change is even more difficult. As a result, the future
China Super League (soccer league)
The direction of the professional leagues became less clear.
But no matter what kind of league, no matter whether it is dominated by private capital or state-owned capital, solving the problem of wage arrears is the primary task of each club. A club that owes wages cannot be considered a normal club, and a league with too many clubs owing wages cannot be called a professional league.
Therefore, even if the Football Association makes some adjustments, relaxes the inspection criteria and gives a certain degree of understanding to the phenomenon of wage arrears for the time being, the problem of wage arrears must be resolved in the next one to two years. In other words, access inspection must return to normal, and clubs that owe wages will not be allowed access.
We hope to take a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years to resolve the problem of wage arrears. Otherwise, if the problem of salary arrears is not solved, it will seriously dampen the enthusiasm of soccer practitioners and fans, and even more so the enthusiasm of youth players (parents). There are already many youth players who choose to go to school instead of playing professional league. Once the youth training breaks down, it will be a disaster, perhaps laying the groundwork for the failure of the national team in 15 years' time.
In fact, the best scenario might be something like this: for the 2022 season, the
China Super League (soccer league)
The league returns to its normal home-and-away format, and it is also the middle of the
National Football Association (NFA)
Leaving clubs with a final chance to deal with unpaid wages, access checks for the 2023 season will be all about tightening up.
To put it politely, if another year is given and there are still clubs that cannot solve their own wage arrears problem, then such clubs should no longer appear in the professional league matches.
It is important to highlight that future normal access inspections, hopefully in the
National Football Association (NFA)
Stop collecting any pay bonus confirmation forms, aren't those signatures just cajoling? The new access checks should be based on the club's financial audit, and the pay and bonus confirmation forms, on bank flows.
