As many professional soccer fans know, there are many conditions that must be met for a mature professional soccer tournament. In addition to the home-and-away system, a comprehensive relegation system is also indispensable. With the expansion of the squad to 18 teams, the new season of the Chinese Super League must return to the right track in the implementation of the competition rules. At this time, expanding the relegation quota, incentivize all levels of the league to compete with high morale, has become the industry consensus.
It is revealed that the Chinese Football Association and the preparatory group of the Chinese Football League in-depth study and many discussions, decided that the relegation quota of the new season of the Chinese Super League may be increased to two to three. The specific division of the quota will not appear "0.5" such a vague concept, which also means that the new season of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese A League of the promotion and relegation playoffs will no longer exist. The organizers do not want to reduce the possibility of promotion of the middle and lower level teams due to the organization of the play-offs, so as not to dampen their enthusiasm and create new unfairness.
So, how many relegation places will be set for the new season of the Chinese Super League? The CFA and the CFL preparatory team have proposed the options of "2" or "3". At present, it seems that the proposal of "3 places" is more favorable. The organizers believe that this option is more common in international professional soccer and matches the size of the 18 teams.
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has so far not issued any specific notification on the registration of transfers for Chinese Super League (CSL), Chinese First Division (CFA) and Chinese Second Division (CSB) clubs for the 2022 season, as the competition plans for the three-tier professional leagues have not yet been finalized. However, with April 23 as the scheduled kick-off time for the new Chinese Super League season, it is expected that the transfer window for domestic professional soccer will open from mid-March to mid-April. Preliminary plans for the relevant registrations and transfers are also ready.
The pre-proposal shows that the registration and transfer methods for local players, foreign aid policy, and the registration and playing methods for U23 local players will remain unchanged for the new season in the Chinese Super League, the Chinese League A and the Chinese League B. For example, each club in the Chinese Super League will be allowed to bring in a maximum of eight domestic players with no age restriction during the two transfer window periods of the current year, while there is no restriction on the number of places for the introduction of such players by clubs in the Chinese League A and Chinese League B.
In terms of foreign aid policy, if the original rules continue to be followed, the new season of the Chinese Super League will continue to implement the "7654" foreign aid policy. This means that each club can register a maximum of seven foreign aiders in a single season (two transfer windows), a maximum of six foreign aiders at the same time, a maximum of five foreign aiders in a single game, and a maximum of four foreign aiders in a single game. Although the AFC recently announced that the number of foreign aiders for participating clubs in the future AFC Champions League will be increased to six, the Chinese Super League currently does not have the ability to immediately follow the AFC policy. From the point of view of Yatai's withdrawal, many teams in the Chinese Super League have chosen to "strategically give up" on the AFC Champions League as a whole this season. Therefore, the adjustment of foreign aid policy on the new season of the Chinese Super League has no substantial impact.
If the original rules continue to be applied, then there will be no restriction on the number of registered U23 local players for the new season for each club in the Chinese Super League, but each team will still be required to ensure that at least one U23 local player is present in each match (unless the U23 player in question has been sent off due to a red card).
As for the rules of naturalized players, if the original rules continue to be used, the new season of the Chinese Super League clubs will implement the December 31, 2019 release of the "notice on the adjustment of the policy of the 2020 season of the professional league" related to the content. In other words, naturalized players of Chinese descent will be regarded as ordinary local players, and their registration and transfer will refer to the relevant rules for ordinary local players; while naturalized players without Chinese descent may only register as domestic players if they meet one of the relevant conditions, and each Chinese Super League club may only register a maximum of one non-Chinese naturalized player as a domestic player. There are two conditions that need to be met by such players: one is that they have been naturalized for five years; and the other is that they are eligible to play officially for the national team.
Although the relevant rules are still awaiting final official confirmation, according to the previous preparatory work and communication between the CFA and the CFL preparatory team, maximizing the rationality, standardization and seriousness of the league system in order to maintain the health and stability of the league is the key objective of their work. Against the backdrop of the economic difficulties faced by professional leagues at all levels, keeping the registration and transfer methods unchanged will also broaden the employment options for the majority of professional players, while helping to alleviate the operational pressure on clubs.
