The postponement of the Asian Games on Chinese football: little impact on the league is a catastrophic blow to the national brand

Today (6th), the Olympic Council of Asia announced the official news of the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games, which was originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou in September this year, and the specific time is to be determined. This is actually a news that has long been a precursor, and for Chinese football, the impact and impact is not small, but for this year's Chinese Super League, the relative impact is not small, and even to some extent it will help the full development of the league, but the impact on the national team, especially the national team, can not be underestimated, and may even be a catastrophic blow.

1

The Chinese Super League can be fully played

Although until now, when will the 2022 Chinese Super League season start? There is still no clear timetable, although it has a lot to do with the fact that the two Chinese Super League teams in Shanghai have not yet left Shanghai due to the epidemic and the venues they have hosted have not yet been finalized, but to some extent, it is also related to the official news waiting for the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Since news such as the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games must wait for official news, the parties cannot easily say or act without official release. But in fact, the Chinese Football Association and the Preparatory Group of the Chinese Football Federation have actually begun to prepare in the later stage during the period when the national team and the U23 national football team ended their trip to West Asia and returned to China to accept quarantine, that is, when formulating this year's league schedule, two versions were prepared, one version was that the Hangzhou Asian Games would proceed as usual; the other version was the Hangzhou Asian Games to determine the postponement.

To some extent, from the perspective of pure domestic football, the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games is not necessarily a bad thing for professional leagues, including the Chinese Super League, and even to a large extent, it can ensure that the Chinese Super League can be fully developed. In fact, this is why in the case that the start time has not been determined, whether it is the Chinese Football Association or the information sent by the preparatory group of the China Football Federation, it has always emphasized that "I hope that this year's Chinese Super League can play all 34 rounds". Because once the Hangzhou Asian Games are carried out normally, during the Asian Games [Note: The start time of the Asian Games football matches is earlier, from September 7 to 25], the Chinese Super League will be suspended, during which the FA Cup single elimination match will be arranged. However, after the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games, if you add pre-match and post-match, at least four to five weeks can be normally arranged for the league. Even if it is a one-week match, at least five rounds can be arranged. Even instead of playing once a week in the case of a centralized tournament system, there will be more rest time between rounds, allowing players to play in relatively better shape.

Moreover, due to the impact of domestic epidemic prevention policies, on the whole, the national team matchday designated by FIFA will be unlikely to invite foreign teams to China, or the national team will go out to participate, which makes the entire league at least relatively complete.

During this period, the only thing that may affect the Chinese Super League is the East Asian Cup in Japan from July 19 to 27. Assuming that the Chinese Football Association still decides to let the U23 team participate, as early as late April, the Chinese Football Association has issued a "Notice on the Relevant Policies for U-23 Players in the 2022 Professional League", which clearly states that if a player is selected for the U23 national men's football team, the relevant clubs may not implement the U-23 player appearance policy during the team's preparation, training, participation and epidemic prevention and quarantine. This reduction policy can also continue to ensure that the league runs normally. Moreover, because the Asian Games have been postponed, once the U23 national football team still plays in the East Asian Cup, it may not be able to recruit overage players to play.

Of course, if the Chinese football team coordinates the overall strategy and sends the national team to play, it is another matter. After all, after the national team members are transferred away, the league is bound to suspend the "give way", and after the end of the game, the return to China to implement the "14 + 7" isolation policy, the suspension time will not be short.

Therefore, on the whole, the impact and impact of the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games on the domestic league will not be great, but the real impact or impact is actually the Chinese national team and the U23 national football team.

2

It is difficult to underestimate the impact of the national brand name

The adverse impact and impact of the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Chinese football is probably more reflected in the national team, namely the Chinese men's national football team, the 99 age group U23 national football team and even the 01 age group U21 national youth team. Because of the postponement of the Asian Games, it means that within this year, these three national teams are afraid that it will be difficult to participate in international competitions again, and the entire international exchange will tend to stop. This will be quite unfavorable to the preparation of the Chinese men's national team for the 2023 Asian Cup, the participation of the U23 national football team in the postponed Asian Games, and the participation of the 01-age national youth team in the first stage of the men's football qualifiers for next year's Paris Olympic Games, which will be quite unfavorable and even have a significant negative impact.

A. 99 age group U23 national football team

Purely in terms of the 99-year-old U23 national football team, the impact may not be very large in comparison. In the case of the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games, if it is arranged next year, the 99-age U23 national football team will still be the age-appropriate players for the men's football tournament at next year's Asian Games, which is actually the same reason as the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games from 2020 to 2021, the male football players are still 97-year-old players. Therefore, the current 99-year-old players are still the age-appropriate players of the postponed Asian Games men's football match.

However, after the postponement, if these players do not have international training, can they have more appearances in domestic leagues? This is extremely critical to the growth of players, in particular, these players will lose the protection of the "U23 policy" in next year's league, will they be able to get the same playing opportunities before the Asian Games? No one can guarantee it. Because in the current U23 national football team, there are still many players who do not play much time in the league, but they are selected because they meet the technical and tactical requirements of the coach.

Of course, if there is still an opportunity for international competitions, the only thing that will happen is the East Asian Cup in Japan in July this year. But will the Chinese Football Association continue its previously formulated strategy and continue to send U23 to the Asian Games? It is difficult to predict at this time. Assuming that the Hangzhou Asian Games are postponed to the first half of next year, the possibility of the U23 national football team continuing to play is relatively greater. Once postponed to the second half of the year, it will be scheduled to take place after the Asian Cup in June and July 2023, and the national team will also need to prepare for the Asian Cup. So, is it to send the national team to the East Asian Cup or continue to play in the U23 national football team? I am afraid that there will be no clear statement for the time being.

B. The national team will be in an awkward position

The postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games, the most embarrassing thing is actually the Chinese men's national football team, which not only refers to how the coaching team headed by Li Xiaopeng will handle the next work of the current national team, but also the personnel problem.

As we all know, the biggest problem exposed by the Chinese men's national football team that has just finished the round of 12 is that the players are not picking up, and the average age of the whole team is older. This is not to say that the national team does not want to use young players, but that young players "can't stand up"! In the past two or three years, affected by the epidemic, including the U23 national football team, the youth national team further down has not participated in the intercontinental competition, which is equivalent to not having undergone any test of the main competition. In this case, which coach dares to use these "raw melon eggs"? Especially in the current public opinion environment of Chinese football, if a new person emerges, of course, it will be widely praised; but once the newcomer is disappointed, it is likely to be involved in all kinds of boring suspicions, accused of "nepotism", "close relationship with the agency or agent", "and tempted by some interests" and so on.

Under normal circumstances, assuming that the Hangzhou Asian Games can be carried out normally, and the performance of the current batch of 99 age group U23 players can still be recognized, then some players will enter the national team after undergoing the test of the Asian Games, and then go all out to prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup, and the outside world will be less controversial, after all, from the normal blood exchange of the national team, the use of 99 age group players to enter the national team is also a normal and general law practice.

However, now with the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games, how will the next "renewal" of the national team select players? I am afraid that it will become the focus of heated discussions, especially in the context of these 99-year-old players who do not have any continental competition experience.

Moreover, there is also a problem involved in this period, that is, if the Asian Games are postponed to the first half of next year, that is, before the Asian Cup, the national team will prepare for the Asian Cup on the one hand, the U23 national football team will prepare for the Asian Games, and both teams need to continue. In particular, most of the current 99-year-old players have not yet been selected for the national team, and the Asian Cup is obviously more important in comparison, and the Asian Cup will soon be transferred to the preparation for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Assuming that the Asian Games are postponed to the second half of next year, the Asian Games will be held on the doorstep on the one hand, but the 2026 World Cup qualifiers will also be launched in the second half of 2023, that is, the Asian Games will conflict with the 2026 World Cup qualifier schedule. At that time, how will the two teams coordinate?

C. The Paris Olympic team was affected

When we consider the impact of the national team and the 99-age U23 national football team facing the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games, we must not forget another more important 2001 age group U21 national youth team! After the end of the fifth U23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan in June this year, the 01-age team will participate in the first group stage of the sixth U23 Asian Cup qualifiers next year to launch the Paris Olympics impact journey.

According to the AFC schedule, it is not surprising that the first stage of the sixth U23 Asian Cup qualifiers will be held in the second half of 2023, that is, certainly after the end of the Asian Cup, perhaps in September or October, and then in January 2024, the final stage will be held to compete for tickets to the Paris Olympic Games.

It is worth noting that whether it is the fifth U23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan in June this year, or the Asian Games men's football match originally scheduled for September in Hangzhou, more than half of the teams in Asian countries and regions are sending teams in the 2001 age group to play, or the 2001 age group players are mainly players, and the team that absorbs individual 99 age group players is mainly composed. In other words, the football associations of other countries and regions are already preparing for the men's football competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

In contrast, China's 2001 age group will no longer participate in the league this year after participating in the Two LeagueS, and all the players will be "free-range". So, when the sixth U23 Asian Cup qualifiers begin, why will China's 01-year-old team compete with Asian teams of the same age? Moreover, like the 01 age group players, except for a few players who jumped into the 99 age group U23 national football team such as Tao Qianglong, Liu Zhurun, Abdul Suli, goalkeeper Huang Zihao and even Harik, who for some reason failed to visit West Asia with the team, most of the players have not participated in even one international game for more than three years, let alone playing in the domestic Chinese Super League. How strong can a team composed of such a group of players be in terms of combat effectiveness or international competitiveness?

epilogue:

Chinese football under the epidemic is struggling, not because Chinese footballers do not work hard and do not want to change. However, in the current objective situation, the power of football people is small, and it is difficult to change the status quo at all, especially in the absence of international exchanges. Perhaps rebuilding your league system behind closed doors is perhaps the most pragmatic move.