After the Chinese men's football delegation lifted the lockdown, the hour hand of Chinese football once again shifted to professional leagues. On the afternoon of April 25, the Chinese Football Association announced the relevant policies of the professional leagues at all levels in the new season through official channels, the scale of the professional leagues in the Chinese Super League, the Chinese First Division and the Chinese Second Division and the list of participating clubs. Among them, the new season of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League One will implement the promotion and relegation policy of "up 3 down 3", which has changed significantly from the policy of "up 0.5 down 0.5" last season. Since the scale of participation in the New Season B League has been reduced from 24 teams last season to 20 teams, the promotion and relegation policy of "up 4 down 2" will be implemented between the Chinese Second League and the Chinese Champions League, so as to ensure the orderly increase in the scale of the Chinese Second League next season. Behind the changes in the number of league promotions and relegations at all levels is actually the original intention of the Chinese Football Association and the China Football Federation Preparatory Group to improve the league structure, improve the quality of league competition, and curb all kinds of chaos.
As of the afternoon of April 25, the Chinese Football Association and the China Football Federation are still running around to implement the start of professional leagues at all levels in the new season, especially the selection of divisions, and the start date and specific competition plans of leagues at all levels cannot be finalized. However, due to the strict setting of the registration period for transfers in domestic football, clubs in the Chinese Super League and China League A must complete the recruitment of reinforcements and the registration of new recruits during the first transfer window period (transfer winter window) of the year before April 29. Affected by the epidemic and financial crisis, the vast majority of clubs tend to be cautious in investing in the new season. In the case of limited funds, they need to refine the reinforcement and investment plans according to the league policy.
It is understood that the Chinese Football Association has initially formulated various league policy plans as early as about 1 month ago. However, due to factors such as the delay in the national football team and the U23 national football team going to West Asia to participate in the top 12 matches, the Dubai Cup and the competition plans of professional leagues at all levels, the Football Association has not been able to announce the details of the plan. With only a few days to go until the first transfer window in domestic football this year closes, the Chinese Football Association finally decided to throw out various league policies.
In terms of specific content, the policy implemented by the professional league in the new season has changed by a certain extent compared with previous years. Among them, the more interesting is the change in the promotion and relegation policy of the league. Specifically, the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League A will implement the "up, 3 down, 3" policy. In fact, the Chinese Football Association has reduced the promotion and relegation quota of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese First Division in the past two seasons, largely because the league has had to change the format due to the impact of the epidemic, and the schedule has been greatly reduced. The emergency competition method introduced in the special period has defects in one way or another compared with the competition methods common to professional leagues, and it also affects fair competition to a certain extent. Therefore, similar to last season's Chinese Super League and China League A, the "half promotion, half reduction" promotion and relegation method is only an emergency or transitional policy.
After the Chinese Super League confirms the expansion to 18 teams in the new season, the organizers of the event must promote the survival of the fittest through reasonable policies to ensure the competitive quality of the professional league. The "up, 3 down, 3" policy has also formed a spur and encouragement for the clubs in the Middle A and B who aspire to a higher level. In other words, no matter whether the New Season Super League and the Chinese League One can restore the home-and-away system as desired, and whether the tournament is still carried out in a closed field without spectators, the normalization of the promotion and relegation policy will help the league restore its competitive vitality.
Another noteworthy change is that the number of players in the new season's Chinese Second Division has been reduced from 24 teams last season to 20 teams, including the 2003 age group U19 national youth team. In fact, in accordance with the relevant requirements of the "Football Reform Plan", the Chinese Football Association has been vigorously promoting the orderly growth of the scale of professional leagues at all levels in recent years. However, in the past few seasons, due to various objective factors, the operating conditions of clubs at all levels have continued to decline. Even in the Chinese Super League, which is a top league, there are only a few clubs that do not owe wages. Although the Chinese Football Association agreed to pay off the arrears of wages in installments during the year under the premise of reaching a consensus with players in order to ensure the stability of league operations at all levels in the new season, it is also very worried about more similar problems in the new season, thus clamping down on the healthy development of the league. In this case, the association is also cautious about the issue of "complementary promotion" of low-level clubs, and sets a certain "threshold".
Prior to this, the Chinese Football Association had publicly announced that a total of 8 clubs had obtained the qualification for the new season of the Chinese First Division and the Chinese Second League. Judging from the results announced, Beijing Polytechnic Football Club and Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard Football Club, which were originally relegated to the second division, have both made up for "returning" to the Middle Division. Among the 6 clubs that have applied for the supplementary Chinese Second Division, 4 clubs, including Qin'ao (Zhuhai) Football Club, which ranked 8th in the Chinese Champions League last season, have qualified for the new season's Chinese Second Division. Last season, the 22nd Shaoxing Keqiao Yuejia and the 24th Shaanxi Warriors surpassed the two clubs regrettably did not have the opportunity to participate in the new season of the Chinese Second Division.
Although there are many reasons for not being able to make up for it, it is certain that these clubs are blocked out of the Central B league because they cannot meet the "minimum standards" for participation. According to the requirements, including the replacement club, all clubs participating in the new season of the Chinese Second League must pay a participation deposit of 600,000 yuan at the latest on April 19. According to people familiar with the matter, some clubs that have passed the China Second League admission review still refuse or claim to delay the handover for various reasons. For such a club, the organizers of the tournament naturally have no trust at all, and it is natural to refuse to be outside the league door. In the words of an informed source, "If you can't even pay a deposit of 600,000 yuan, who can believe that such a club can run a club normally?" "The scale of participation of the 20 teams in the new season in the Second Division has dropped significantly from the size of the 24 teams in the previous season, but compared with the greater crisis of the league due to the withdrawal of individual clubs in the middle, "rather than indiscriminate" is the wise choice. In the new season, the Second Division and the Chinese Champions League will implement the policy of "up 4 down 2", and the expansion of the league in order of relegation is obviously more desirable.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao