Next week, the Chinese Super League (CSL), the feast of the new soccer season, will be unveiled, but the list of participating clubs is like a fickle cloud that has never settled. Recently, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has announced that Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic Club (hereinafter referred to as "Chongqing team"), which was originally ranked in the Chinese Super League, has failed to meet the entry threshold because of the long-term failure to solve the problem of salary arrears, and has been deprived of its qualification. Dalian People's Professional Football Club (hereinafter referred to as "Dalian People's Team"), which was previously relegated to the Central League, has been qualified to participate in the new season of the Chinese Super League due to the replacement of the position.
Despite the seemingly unchanged lineup of Chinese Super League teams, the problems of China's professional soccer leagues exposed by this are as thought-provoking as the tip of an iceberg.
On the one hand, the handling of salary arrears by clubs appears to be a "do-nothing" approach. The Chongqing team was disqualified after failing to meet the FA's entry standards due to long-term salary arrears. Although the club's players had clearly indicated their willingness to take a pay cut, the club was still unable to recover. The withdrawal of Chongqing team makes the problem of salary arrears even more difficult. Players need to go through labor arbitration to get their wages, but the soccer industry has the property of autonomy, which needs to be resolved within the industry as a matter of priority; however, since the Football Association has cancelled the registration status of Chongqing, the club is actually out of the jurisdiction of the Football Association, forming a "vacuum zone". If the players take the judicial route, the difficulty will be far greater than in other industries.
On the other hand, although the "resurrection" of the Dalian People's Team is encouraging, the pressure of its survival is still enormous, which is almost the epitome of all Chinese Super League clubs. The Football Association is implementing the club share reform program, the expectation is that through the introduction of diversified investment, reduce the club's operating pressure and risk. However, clubs such as Shandong Taishan and Henan, which have previously completed the share reform, have managed to attract more investment by virtue of their good operating conditions. While more clubs are burdened with heavy debts, the road of share reform is full of challenges.
The poor operating conditions of clubs in general are attributed to both the "inherent inadequacy" of Chinese professional soccer: most teams rely on "blood transfusion" from their parent companies and have insufficient ability to generate their own blood; and the weakness of the Chinese professional league's management and business development capabilities, especially the match system, which has led to a shrinking schedule and declining attendance, as well as the introduction of the Football Association's neutral name policy, which has reduced the benefits of intangible advertising. In particular, the tournament system has brought about a shrinking schedule, declining attendance, and the introduction of the Football Association's neutral name policy, which has greatly reduced the benefits of intangible advertisements.
As the administrators of Chinese soccer, both the FA and the CSL are in dire need of improving their ability to provide protection. Not only to protect the athletes to obtain labor income, to help solve the problem of unpaid wages, but also to protect the reasonable interests of the club, in the schedule development, sponsorship dividends and business development to provide more support. To have a sense of community of interest, more as a "participant" rather than a "manager".
Chongqing team "fall", Dalian people team "rebirth", the number of teams in the Chinese Super League seems to remain unchanged, in fact, "attrition" serious. The disappearance is not only the long history of Chongqing soccer, which had the hottest market in China, but also other clubs. The FA needs to respond quickly to help soccer investors and the external market regain confidence, or at least find ways to ease the anxiety of investors.
