At a meeting in Shanghai on July 5, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the China Football League (CFF) (the working league) jointly confirmed that the remaining matches in the first phase of the 2021 Chinese Super League season will resume on July 15th. The news noted that other preparations for the league's relaunch are progressing steadily as planned, although the Gusu tournament may adjust some of its venues due to site-specific protection and other factors.
The latest news from the preparatory work meeting of the CFL shows that in order to cooperate with the national team to prepare for the Top 12, the number of rounds of matches in this season's Chinese Super League will be reduced from the original 30 rounds to 22 rounds. Among them, the first stage of the 5th round of the bye will be held on July 15 in Guangzhou and Gusu district, followed by the 6th round of matches will be held on July 18 and 19 in these two districts respectively. It is worth noting that the interval between the matches in each zone is only two days.
On the premise of strictly complying with national and local anti-epidemic regulations and ensuring that anti-epidemic measures are in place for the tournament, it is expected that spectators will continue to be allowed to enter the stadium at this stage of the tournament. It is reported that if spectators are allowed to enter the stadium after the re-launch of the Chinese Super League, the number of openings in the Gusau Region may be more than half of the total number of matches, while the number of openings in the Guangzhou Region is yet to be further confirmed.
Currently, the biggest challenge for the re-launch of the Chinese Super League is the venue issue. Recently, there have been rumors that some of the matches in Gusu may be moved to Rugao, Jiangsu Province. The reason for this is that the Gusu City Sports Center Stadium will not be able to host the upcoming matches due to conservation repairs. Due to the tight schedule, each zone may have to host four matches on the same match day, which puts tremendous pressure on the venues and also increases the risk of player injuries.
In the face of this dilemma, the CFF preparatory team and the Jiangsu Region had to look for alternate venues. Taking into account the conditions of the venue, transportation accessibility and other factors, Rugao and Changzhou venues are more suitable for hosting matches. In addition, the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium is also facing protection and maintenance, which does not rule out the possibility of the game originally planned to be held at the main venue to be moved to a secondary venue. The CFA and CFF preparatory team are rapidly coordinating with all parties in order to finalize the venue arrangements as soon as possible.
