Following the schedule announced at the Shanghai league preparatory meeting on July 5, the 2021 Chinese Super League season was scheduled to restart on July 15 and conclude on August 12 with the remaining nine rounds of matches in the first phase (including two matches in the fifth round). However, as of noon on July 12, the CFA and the CFL preparatory team had yet to finalize the venue arrangements for the Suzhou tournament.
It is reported that since the summer, the Suzhou race area has continuously suffered from rainfall. Earlier this month, Suzhou Olympic Sports Center also hosted Wang Feng's solo concert, resulting in a certain degree of damage to the venue's turf, for which Suzhou Match Zone initiated venue protection work. Against this backdrop, venues including Changzhou and Rugao have become alternative venues for the Chinese Super League. Given the unprecedented high density of Super League matches that will be played in Suzhou and Guangzhou, the districts and their playing and training venues will face a severe test. If the venues are overwhelmed, the risk of accidental injuries to players will increase, which will undoubtedly result in significant losses for the clubs and the Chinese national team that will be participating in the 12-team tournament.
Last week, shortly after the Shanghai meeting, news circulated on the Internet that Rugao, Jiangsu Province, might become an alternative venue for the Suzhou region of the Chinese Super League. Although this news has not yet been confirmed by official channels, it is not a falsehood. The CFA and CFL preparatory team have recently learned from the Suzhou Region and related departments that the Suzhou Sports Center Stadium and Suzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, which were originally planned to host the region's matches, may not be able to host this stage of the tournament due to site protection works.
After entering the summer, Suzhou continued to experience high temperatures and rain, which adversely affected the protection of the venues in the region. on the evening of July 3, Suzhou Olympic Sports Center also hosted a solo concert by singer Wang Feng, during which it rained. A source from the Suzhou region revealed that shortly after the concert, the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center removed the infield turf in preparation for full protection. Because such work takes a certain amount of time, and the district is scheduled to receive Chinese Super League matches starting July 16, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the stadium's schedule.
Also facing venue protection challenges is the Suzhou Sports Center Stadium. Because the Suzhou Olympic Stadium was previously reserved for the national women's Olympic Games, the national men's football 40 strong match of the home of the spare site, so the first five rounds of this season's venues are concentrated in the Suzhou Sports Center, Kunshan Sports Center, Jiangyin Sports Center, three venues, of which the "Suzhou Stadium" of the higher utilization rate, the site damage is also more prominent. Under these circumstances, the district had considered giving up the use of the venue to host the remaining matches of the first phase of the Chinese Super League.
As a result, the CFA and CFF preparatory team had to look for other candidate venues in Suzhou and its neighboring cities with suitable geographical locations and convenient transportation. The news that the Rugao and Changzhou venues had entered the candidate range spread.
In addition to climatic conditions and other force majeure factors, plagued by the Chinese Super League Suzhou venue selection work there are other practical problems. For example, this season's Chinese Super League stages of the schedule more intensive than last season, which objectively higher requirements for site protection and maintenance, the district needs to do a good job of site protection, not only to overcome the technical problems, but also need to be sufficient funds.
In addition, each match, especially those open to the public, requires the investment of a large amount of resources, including economic resources, in epidemic prevention, security and match management. In the case of Guangzhou, for example, the organizer of this season paid subsidies of 50,000 RMB and 3,000 RMB to each district for a single match and the use of training venues. Are these costs sufficient to fulfill the above tasks? This is a question that has been clearly calculated by each district.
It must be said that, in order to ensure the smooth running of the Chinese Super League this season, the CFA, the preparatory group of the CFA, the regions and their relevant departments have shown great sincerity and given strong support to run the game, and even made a huge "concessions". However, since the issue of venues is related to the health and safety of players, all parties tend to be cautious when making decisions.
It is reported that the CFF preparatory group will launch a final solution on this issue later on July 12 at the earliest. As things stand, it is unlikely that the Rugao venue will be selected. If the coordination between all parties goes well, then the established venues in Suzhou are still expected to continue hosting this stage of the tournament. If a venue is unable to host the race, then it is possible that the Changzhou venue will be selected.
It should be noted that, regardless of which stadium the Suzhou tournament venue is arranged in, each venue will host one round of the tournament every two days, and each tournament will host all four matches of the same group and round on the same match day. In this case, it is not only the venues that will be tested, but also the players' bodies. Last season, a number of Chinese Super League (CSL) players, including Shenhua's Kim Shin-wook and Guoan's Park Sung, suffered serious injuries in the CSL and subsequently missed a significant number of matches. It's hard to determine whether their injuries were directly related to poor pitch conditions, but it's an indisputable fact that some of last season's CSL matches were characterized by intensive schedules and poor pitch conditions. As a strong backing for the national soccer team's impact on the Qatar World Cup, the international players of the various Chinese Super League clubs need to be given the necessary protection in the league, and an important prerequisite for their protection is to ensure that the field conditions are superior.
