On the evening of April 16, 8 clubs in the Chinese Second Division and the Chinese Championship have received letters from the Chinese Football Association, informing them to submit the 2022 professional league replacement application and related materials. Among them, Beijing Polytechnic and Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopards, which were relegated from the Middle League last season, qualified for the Central League, and the six teams of Shaoxing Keqiao Yuejia, Quanzhou Yaxin, Shaanxi Warriors Chaoyue, Zibo Qisheng, Shaoxing Shangyu Yilong and Zhuhai Qin'ao were eligible to make up for the Second Division. However, in the notice of the Chinese Football Association, the "replacement" issue of the Chinese Super League was not involved, which also means that the 2022 season of the Chinese Super League will still play according to the existing 18 teams.
The Chinese Football Association has lowered the "entry threshold" of leagues at all levels according to IC photo
At present, four teams at all levels of Professional League in China have withdrawn, namely Qingdao, who was relegated to the Chinese First Division from the Chinese Super League last season, Guizhou in the Chinese First Division, Xiamen Ludao and Sichuan Minfang in the Chinese Second Division. Among them, the Guizhou team did not qualify for league access because it failed to solve the international wage arrears due to the overdue period and did not meet the relevant regulations of the AFC access. The Sichuan Minzu Football Team did not submit the relevant materials for admission within the specified time, that is to say, it voluntarily gave up the league access qualification. Qingdao and Xiamen Ludao notified the organizers of the event through official channels, saying that they would withdraw from the professional football league in the new season. Therefore, at present, there are two vacancies in the Chinese First Division, ranking two to the bottom of the Chinese First Division last season, and Beijing Institute of Technology and Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard, who lost in the play-offs of the First division, will be lucky to return to the Chinese First Division.
At present, there are two vacancies in the Chinese Second Division, and the Chinese Football Association has notified 6 Chinese Champions League teams (including Shaoxing Keqiao Yuejia, Quanzhou Yaxin and Shaanxi Warriors Who were relegated from the Chinese Second Division last season) to prepare for the replacement. Of course, this does not necessarily mean that the next Chinese Second Division and the team will be dissolved or withdrawn, and the Chinese Football Association is also taking into account that there may be a top-ranked Chinese Champions League itself that may not have the willingness to participate in the Chinese Second League next season. According to last season's league results, the current top of the champions league are Shaoxing Keqiao Yuejia, Quanzhou Yaxin and Shaanxi Warriors, while Zibo Qisheng, who unfortunately lost in the second-place play-off last season, is after these three relegated teams.
The dissolution of the Chinese Super League champion Jiangsu shocked Asian football according to IC photo
From this year's point of view, compared with the 2020 season and the 2021 season, the situation of large-scale withdrawal of leagues at all levels has improved. In the 2020 season, a total of 16 clubs in the three-tier professional league withdrew, becoming an unprecedented tragic scene in the history of Chinese professional football. In the 2021 season, although the number of withdrawal teams is not so much, the dissolution of the defending champion Jiangsu team of the Chinese Super League has shocked the Asian football world, and its negative impact has even exceeded the "withdrawal tide" in the 2020 season.
Of course, many teams at all levels of the league this year are still facing the problem of survival, the reason why they did not set off a "tide of withdrawal" and "dissolution tide" like the 2020 season, not because their situation has improved, but the Chinese Football Association has lowered the "entry threshold" - clubs that could not submit salary and bonus confirmation forms on time in the past will not be able to obtain access qualifications, and in the current situation of general salary arrears of league teams at all levels, the Chinese Football Association has issued a "salary arrears solution", in line with the purpose of "starting first, repaying the money later". The Chinese Football Association has set three nodes to solve the arrears of wages, and if there is no club that repays the arrears of wages at the three nodes, the league will be deducted 3 points, 6 points and in the relegation or disqualification of admission in the new season.
Therefore, this year, the Chinese Football Association is also painstaking to ensure the integrity of the league, from the current point of view, only 4 teams in the third-tier league have withdrawn to make the "face" less ugly, especially the Chinese Super League can fully participate in 18 teams. However, it is not realistic to let all teams solve the problem of all wage arrears in three steps in one year, and in the future, whether the Chinese Football Association can "fight hard" against clubs that still owe wages in accordance with the penalty regulations in the "wage arrears solution", the outside world can only wait and see.
Red Star News reporter Jiang Shan
Edited by Ou Peng
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