China's men's soccer team launched its buildup around August 17th as it intensely prepares for the Qatar World Qualifier Asian Zone 12 tournament. The CFA has been working closely with the Operational League Preparatory Team and has recently held in-depth discussions on the remaining matches of the Chinese Super League (CSL). The latest news shows that in view of the epidemic and other objective factors, all parties are generally in favor of the Chinese Super League to carry out 22 rounds of matches. Of these, the remaining 9 rounds of the first phase are scheduled to take place from July 18th to August 12th. During this period, the 5th round bye matches of Henan Songshan Longmen against Guangzhou and Beijing Guoan against Hebei are scheduled to take place on July 15 and 16 respectively. According to this arrangement, the Super League teams will have a match every three days on average, and the density of competition has reached an unprecedented high.
Hopes for a full 30 rounds of the Super League are slim
According to the latest schedule released by WFC and AFC, the Top 12 will kick off on September 2 this year until March 29 the following year. At present, although the WFA is under pressure from sponsors, it is still inclined to keep the home-and-away system of the 12-team tournament unchanged. In this case, the CFA should not only do a good job externally to create a favorable competitive environment for the national team, but also internally to do a good job in the preparation and protection services.
The preparatory group of the CFA and the Operations League has been meeting continuously since Monday to discuss the details of the CFL schedule and system. However, due to the first six rounds of the 12-team tournament are centrally arranged in September, October and November this year, the national team needs to cross participate in home and away matches, and at the same time to meet the world, domestic epidemic prevention and quarantine rules and other factors, it is very difficult to play all 30 rounds of this season's Premier League in accordance with the established plan.
Super League could end in early January next year
Before the exchanges began, the national team's coaching staff, led by Li Tie, had already made a proposal to bring forward the team's pre-12 training. According to their plan, the national team is scheduled to regroup around August 17th.
The national team arrived in Suzhou late at night on June 17, Beijing time, and was required to undergo 14 days of collective closed isolation in accordance with epidemic prevention regulations. After the quarantine period, even if the whole team is disbanded and sent to different parts of the country, they still need to observe independently for 7 days according to the regulations. This means that the earliest they can return to the club until July 8th. Taking into account the international players after the rest, but also need to re-integrate with the club team, so the earliest time to restart the Premier League to mid-July.
Based on the above timing projections, the CFA and the Operational League Preparatory Group have developed several competition scenarios for the remaining matches of this season's Chinese Super League (CSL). Considering that it is impossible for the league to be scheduled in September, October and November (the preparation and competition cycle for the national team's Top 12 matches), various parties have made a lot of efforts on whether and how to reduce the schedule of the Chinese Super League. Some people have even proposed halving the full season of the Chinese Super League to 15 rounds, which means a single round-robin system.
However, in view of the fact that "halving the fixtures" would be detrimental to the image of the league, the integrity of the competition and the quality of competition, and that it would lead to dissatisfaction among the league's stakeholders, including sponsors, the motion was basically rejected by all parties. Considering all the practical factors, the plan of "conducting two phases to accumulate 22 rounds" is relatively easier for all parties to accept. According to this plan, the first phase of the Super League this season, the remaining 9 rounds of the tournament must be completed before the start of the 12-team tournament, the second phase of the 8 rounds of the tournament is scheduled to be arranged in early December to early January the following year, that is, the completion of the tournament across the year. This arrangement is relatively convenient for the national team to prepare for the 12th round of the tournament in late January of the following year, the 7th and 8th round of the tournament.
Super League teams play an average of one game every three days
Compared with the later stages of the Chinese Super League, how to rationalize the schedule of the remaining 9 rounds of the first stage and the two 5th round matches is a difficult problem that needs to be solved by all parties. From the recent communication between CFA and the preparatory team of the operational league, these 9 rounds of matches will be completed before the start of the new training of the national team. Specifically, the 6th round is scheduled to start on July 18th. Among them, the 6th to 14th round of the Guangzhou tournament is scheduled to be held on July 18, 21, 24, 27, 30 and August 2, 5, 8, 11; Suzhou tournament is scheduled to be held on a staggered day, which means that this phase of the tournament is scheduled to end on August 12th. And from this point to the national team assembly, there are exactly 5 days or so, can meet the needs of the international players rest and recuperation. The fifth round of two important games are planned for July 15 and 16 respectively.
If the above plan is finally adopted, it means that the Super League teams will have to participate in a Super League match every 3 days on average, which is absolutely unprecedented in terms of density, and the test for the teams is also unprecedentedly severe. Such a density is absolutely unprecedented, and will be an unprecedented test for the teams. The over-intensive journey will cause huge wear and tear on the personnel, which will also increase the chances of players, especially international players, suffering from injuries and other accidents. Prior to this, including Fernando, Wei Shihao, Wang Gang and other international players of the injury to a certain extent also stems from its in the league, "cumulative strain into disease". Therefore, how to "protect" international players, all parties must be careful.
As of June 26, the CFA and the preparatory group of the operational league have not yet announced the final operational plan for the Chinese Super League. The parties also plan to have an in-depth exchange of relevant details in Suzhou next week and finalize the implementation plan.
