Despite the ongoing anti-corruption and anti-vice trend in the domestic soccer world, which has seen many top executives of soccer associations fall from grace, the Chinese Super League (CSL) seems to have emerged unscathed. The latest developments show that the Football Association has finalized the kick-off time for the 2023 season of the Chinese Super League, and the new season will kick off on the 15th of next month.
Remember? Under the active promotion of Chen Xuyuan, the previous chairman of the Football Association (FA), the Chinese Super League (CSL) was expanded from 16 to 18 teams last season, and the season schedule was also increased from 30 to 34 rounds.
Unfortunately, the Chinese Super League has been in the doldrums in recent years, and Chen Xuyuan's move to increase the number of teams to 18 has not had the desired effect. The national team's performance in world qualifiers has deteriorated and the quality of the league has plummeted. Many clubs are in varying degrees of salary arrears due to plummeting revenues, and many are likely to be disbanded this year.
In light of this, the FA has decided to return to a 16-team Chinese Super League for the 2023 season. According to this speculation, there are two teams that may not be involved in the new season, and judging from the list of clubs recently announced by the FA, these may be Shenzhen and Guangzhou from Guangdong.
At the end of last year, the plight of the Shenzhen team and the city of Guangzhou has been like a thunderbolt. Shenzhen team accumulated debt up to 3.5 billion yuan, such a huge debt is afraid that no one can solve, especially in the current environment of Chinese soccer. This is almost a "pie in the sky" task.
Shenzhen team also became the focus of the anti-corruption storm. Ding Yong, Zhang Lu and other management and first-line players were investigated, signaling that the dissolution of the Shenzhen team is close at hand. Although the Guangzhou team's situation is slightly better, but the equity reform has been stalled, the club's financial chain is tight, the dissolution seems to become inevitable.
However, the Shenzhen and Guangzhou teams are still training normally and there is no word on whether they will be disbanded this year. But the Football Association's reduction of the number of Super League teams to 16 for the new season seems to foretell the fate of the two teams.
The downsizing of the Chinese Super League (CSL) is undoubtedly a blow to the policies of former Football Association (FA) chairman Chen Xuyuan. During his time in power, the Association introduced a series of policies and theories that violate the laws of soccer development, such as the "neutral name" policy to discourage companies from investing in soccer, "public welfare soccer" theory is a laughing stock.
The downsizing of the Chinese Super League also confirms that Chen Xuyuan's hasty decision-making has failed, and that not following the laws of soccer development will only end in failure.
Despite the fact that the number of teams has dropped to 16, the opening of the new league season still faces difficulties. The deadline set by the FA for clubs to submit qualification information has passed, but several clubs have still failed to do so. In order to ensure the smooth opening of the league, the FA had to postpone the deadline again.
Looking ahead to the new season, the Chinese Super League will face unprecedented challenges. We sincerely hope that the clubs can work together to help the league to tide over the difficulties, guard our league and add bricks and mortar to the future of Chinese soccer, don't you think?
