The latest communication results between the CFA and the preparatory group of the working league show that the remaining 9 rounds of the first stage of the 2021 Chinese Super League (rounds 6 to 14) will likely be held from July 18 to August 12. Due to the impact of the epidemic and factors such as the national team's preparation and participation in the Top 12 tournament, the remaining eight rounds of CSL competitions, i.e., the 15th to 22nd rounds of the second phase of the competition program, will be held from early December this year to early January next year. In order to create more quality competition opportunities for clubs at all levels of the league, the CFA has decided to retain this season's AFC Cup, and the vast majority of the order of the tournament will be arranged in September, October and November, i.e., in the cycle of preparation and competition for the Top 12, while confirming that 1 new season AFC Champions League regular season quota for the AFC Cup Championship team. Recently, the CFA, the working league preparatory group, Ford Bao company is stepping up the implementation of the specific system of the AFC Cup, the schedule organization, and will be in early July in the working league work conference with the clubs to exchange relevant matters.
Last week, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the preparatory group of the working alliance held in-depth exchanges on how the remaining competitions of this season's Chinese Super League will be run. In view of FIFA's preference to maintain the home and away system for the Top 12 matches, and the restricted conditions for entry and exit of participants in the context of the epidemic and the need to strictly implement all kinds of international and domestic anti-epidemic regulations, the parties began to determine that the remaining nine rounds of the first phase of the Chinese Super League (including two bye matches in the fifth round) will be arranged to take place between mid-July and mid-August, in order to tie in with the launch of the national team's pre-tournament training for the Top 12 matches on or around August 17th. The first stage of the first phase of the Premier League is scheduled for mid-July to mid-August to coincide with the start of the national team's pre-tournament training around August 17th.
The schedule shows that the first six rounds of the 12-team tournament are scheduled to take place during the three international competition day cycles of September, October and November. Therefore, the CFA and the league preparatory group began to determine that will not be arranged in these 3 months of the Chinese Super League competition. And because the 6th round of the 12 round competition China's home games against the same group of 2nd gear team until November 16th, so taking into account a variety of factors, the remaining 8 rounds of the Chinese Super League competition will be the earliest in early December to be able to carry out.
The proposal that the Chinese Super League "gives way" to the national team's preparation for the Top 12 tournament and competition has caused a huge reaction in all walks of life. Some people even questioned, similar arrangements for the Chinese Super League damage is huge, so it is recommended that the Chinese Super League in September to November in the absence of national players, normal, to ensure that the full season to play a full 30 rounds of competition.
However, it is understood that the CFA and the work of the Union preparatory group in the finalization of various types of Chinese Super League operation plan process, also heard from the club side of the different voices, on the "national footballer can be absent part of the stage of the league", different clubs of different interests, in this case, the parties can only seek common ground while reserving differences.
Then from September to November, the Chinese Super League clubs at all levels "only practice not game"? The answer is no. Beiqing - Beijing headline reporter learned on the 28th, was once rumored to be canceled this season's FA Cup will be retained. Among them, the key stage of the tournament with the participation of the Chinese Super League team will be in September, October, November, no surprise.
Last year, due to the impact of the epidemic, the 2020 season of the Chinese Super League did not start until July 25th. The FA Cup was also at risk of being temporarily suspended, but after active coordination, all parties overcame all kinds of difficulties and ensured that last season's FA Cup was conducted smoothly by reducing the size of the participation and compression of the schedule as a contingency method until the Taishan team finally reached the top.
Last season, subject to force majeure factors, only the Chinese Super League and Chinese A (top 8) teams participated in the FA Cup in each order of the main round. According to the competition program planned by CFA and Ford Bao Company this year, the domestic amateur teams with the best performance in the last season, such as China B, China A, China Super League and 1 team, will be qualified to participate in this season's F.A.C. Cup. Among them, the first round of the competition, which was originally planned to be held in June, was participated by the Central A team, which produced 9 advancing teams through a single-round knockout competition; the 24 teams of the Central B played the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the knockout competition, which produced 6 advancing teams, plus that amateur team, a total of 16 teams, which were among the top 32. In the 4th round, i.e. the 1/16th final, they will play against each of the 16 Chinese Super League teams, and then proceed to the knockout rounds one by one until the champion is crowned. The quarter-final and semi-final scenarios will be played in a double-round robin system, while the other rounds, including the final, will be played in a single-game tie-breaker system.
However, by the national team to the United Arab Emirates to participate in the 40 strong match after the domestic need to accept the necessary isolation observation and other factors, originally planned to restart on June 21, the Super League had to be postponed for nearly 1 month to start the game, the AFC Cup competition schedule organization is also affected by a small impact. Considering that the remaining 9 rounds of the first phase of the Chinese Super League will be conducted at a high density of 1 round every 2 days, the Chinese Super League teams will not be able to participate in the AFC Cup before the start of the 12-team tournament. The earliest the first round of the tournament can be opened is around the end of July. For the Chinese Super League teams, the best time to participate in the AFC Cup is undoubtedly from September to November.
Having said that, it is necessary to mention the CFA's original intention of desperately retaining the FA Cup tournament. Affected by the national team's participation in the Top 12 tournament and the absence of international players, the Chinese Super League, if played from September to November, will inevitably result in unfair competition in the league, which is also quite a part of the pursuit of competition in the league clubs can not afford. Then in such a long league break, the Super League teams just rely on hard training, obviously can not optimize the quality of preparation. In this case, focusing on existing strengths to participate in the AFC Cup is undoubtedly conducive to the team to maintain their status, while at the same time conducive to the clubs to explore the potential of young people, newcomers. From the past season's F.A.C.A. Cup process, unless the direction of the Super League teams competing for the Cup Championship is clear, the vast majority of them will organize an appropriate proportion of replacement or reserve forces to cope with the F.A.C.A. Cup before the final 8 or even the final 4 matches. Therefore, once the F.A.C.A. Cup can be played during this period, it will be a valuable exercise for the Super League clubs.
It has been reported that in order to encourage clubs at all levels to actively participate in the AFC Cup, the CFA will explicitly leave one AFC Champions League place in the new season to this season's AFC Cup winning team. Because the final of this season's AFC Cup is also likely to be arranged in November, i.e., in the cycle of the Top 12 competition, which means that international players may also be absent. This may also create an opportunity for the so-called "civilian teams" to compete as dark horses.
There is another point that can not be ignored by the CFA and all parties, that is the interests of the sponsors. According to the end of 2017, the CFA Ford Bao company and Yanjing Brewery contract renewal agreement, the latter will continue to title sponsorship of the 2018 to 2021 season of the F.A.C. Cup, this season is the stage of the two sides of the last year of the cooperation cycle, "respect for the contract, there is a beginning and an end," the reasoning need not be repeated.
It is understood that the CFA, the work of the league preparatory group and the clubs will be held around July 5 in Shanghai or Suzhou, the league work conference, then about this season's Super League, the FA Cup competition organization will be formally launched.
