According to the plan, if the Chinese team confirms that they will not be able to play the two November matches of the Top 12 at home, they will leave around November 6 and travel to Sharjah, UAE for the two matches. Meanwhile, the start of the second phase of this season's Chinese Super League, which was scheduled to begin on December 1, will also be postponed. According to a report by Beiqing-Beijing headline reporter on the 27th, the CFA and the CFL preparatory team have formulated contingency plans for such situations.
The contents of the pre-proposal indicate that the second phase of the Super League may start on December 13 this year and end on January 4 next year. If the proposal is finally approved, there will be only 2 days between each two rounds of matches in this phase. In addition, after the regular matches of the Super League, the final of the FA Cup and the Super League play-offs will also be played separately, and the intensity of the schedule will be unprecedented. Taking into account the needs of epidemic prevention and the national team's schedule of matches for the Top 12, the introduction of such a program is also a desperate move.
Up to now, the venue organization plan for the Chinese team's two home matches in November has not yet been officially confirmed. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, the team is unable to participate in the two games in the domestic city is very likely, for this reason, the CFA has already made preparations to organize the whole team to continue to West Asia to participate in the competition. According to the recent travel program, the team is expected to depart for Sharjah, UAE around November 6th.
Changes to the Chinese team's "November Battle" game plan have actually affected the organization of the second phase of the Chinese Super League schedule. According to the original plan, the second phase of the Super League will start on December 1 and end on January 3 next year. However, if the Chinese team confirms that it needs to go abroad to participate in the competition, then the earliest will be November 17, that is, the sixth round of the 12th round of the tournament and Australia's "second match" the next day after the end of the return to the country. The entire team must strictly abide by the medical quarantine and other epidemic prevention regulations after entering the country. When the quarantine is lifted, it is already around December 8th. If the internationals agree to participate in the remaining matches of the Chinese Super League, then the postponement of the second phase of the tournament is a foregone conclusion.
In fact, for the changes in the national team's match program, the Chinese Football Association and the preparatory group of the CFL have long been predicted. For the second phase of the Chinese Super League match program, also made a contingency plan. The plan shows that the second phase of the Chinese Super League eight rounds of matches will start on December 13, to January 4 next year. Among them, the relegation group and title contenders' matches will be staggered, and the first rounds of matches of the two groups in this stage (15 rounds in the total round order) are planned to be played on December 13 and 14 respectively. According to this plan, there will be only 2 days between each round of matches, which means that all participating teams will continue to play according to the rhythm of "two rounds in three days" as they did in the last 9 rounds of the first phase.
Information previously released by the CFA shows that a total of 12 matches in the 3rd and 4th rounds of this season's FA Cup (i.e., the two rounds of the 8-in-4 and the two rounds of the semifinals) are scheduled to be held from October 23 to November 8 in the Dalian district. The final matches will be held in the designated hosting area after the end of the domestic leagues at all levels of the season. In addition, the elevation play-off matches between the Chinese Super League and the Chinese First Division will also be held on a date to be determined after the conclusion of the regular Chinese Super League matches. The complete closure of the 2021 season for all sequences of domestic professional club matches may have to be delayed until mid-January next year. This is because the Chinese team will be on January 27 and February 1 next year, consecutive away to challenge the 12th round opponent of Japan in the 7th round, the 8th round opponent of Vietnam, leaving very limited rest time for the international players. Such an intensive schedule of matches will also inevitably lead to more injuries.
