The drawdown of the Super League is a helpless move, but it is not a bad choice

Today, the Chinese Football Association and the Preparatory Committee of the Chinese Football Federation officially announced the list of clubs admitted to the professional league in the 2023 season, and a total of 48 clubs have obtained the admission qualification.

Guo Bingyan, head of the competition section of the preparatory group of the Chinese Football Federation, revealed that the Chinese Super League, China A and China B are all 16 teams each. If the status of the substitution of the Chinese League One is not announced, it will be implemented in accordance with the relevant substitution principle. The participating teams of the Chinese Super League have made it clear that Guangzhou City and Kunshan FC, the champions of last season's China League One, have disappeared from the access list, while Dalian Renren and Shenzhen are still listed.

After only one season of expansion, the size of the Chinese Super League has returned from 18 teams to 16 teams. It is not difficult to force 18 teams, Guangzhou team and Shijiazhuang Kung Fu can be completely substituted. However, the Chinese Football Association and the preparatory group of the Chinese Football Federation still chose to downsize in the end.

From the perspective of professional development, the advantages of the 18 Chinese Super League teams are obvious. More participating teams means more matches, more fans' attention, broadcast rights, commercial sponsorship and other aspects can sell better prices.

However, from the perspective of hindsight, the expansion of the Chinese Super League to 18 teams last season is not the most suitable choice. The timing of the expansion was not ideal. In terms of the general environment, the trend of the epidemic last year was not clear, and there was a large-scale lockdown, which directly led to the continuation of the conference system model in the first half of the 2022 Chinese Super League season.

In addition to the general environment, specific to the football field, the survival of the club is difficult. The direct impact of the conference system, empty stadiums, and the downturn in the economy on the Chinese Super League is the decline in revenue. China's football clubs themselves have insufficient hematopoietic capacity, and many clubs' parent companies are real estate companies. In the past two years, real estate companies have suddenly entered the black iron era from the golden age, and teams such as Guangzhou team (parent company Evergrande), Guangzhou City (parent company R&F), Shenzhen team (parent company Kaisa), Hebei team (parent company Huaxia Happiness) and other teams immediately entered a state of rot.

In this case, the expansion of the Chinese Super League to 18 teams led to a serious flooding of matches. Objectively speaking, the promoted teams were not the main reason for the decline in the quality of the Chinese Super League last season, Wuhan Three Towns won the Chinese Super League championship, and the performance of Greentown, Rongcheng and Meizhou Hakka was also remarkable. The main problem appeared in several completely rotten teams such as Guangzhou and Hebei, and Wuhan Yangtze River was also happy after being penalized. On the contrary, Guangzhou City, relying on a spirit of energy, achieved relegation under the combined action of various factors under the unfavorable start.

Regardless of the reasons for the teams, the increase in low-quality games after the expansion is an indisputable fact. Scores like 7-0, 6-0, 6-1 have nothing to do with the goal feast, but are like slaps in the face to the Chinese Super League. Such a score is bound to be a disservice to the league's brand image. Moreover, many teams are struggling to survive, and it is difficult to avoid tacit balls and even match-fixing.

The expansion of the Chinese Super League is imperative, but this is clearly a proposition for the future. The qualification of the Chinese Super League has become a sweet potato pursued by many investors, and when Chinese Super League clubs can have great prospects, the call for expansion will naturally be endless. The current situation is that most investors are afraid to avoid Chinese football, and the result of forced expansion will inevitably lead to a further decline in the value of the Chinese Super League.

Now that it has returned to 16 teams, it will inevitably be interpreted by the outside world as a change in the day. However, letting the Guangzhou team and Shijiazhuang Kung Fu in will not help turn the current situation around. Compared with last season, the situation of the Guangzhou team this season will only get worse, Wei Shihao, Yang Liyu and other famous players have gone their own way, and the debt problem of the parent company Evergrande Group is still an unsolvable dead button, which makes the Guangzhou team take care of itself even in the China League One.

Shijiazhuang Kung Fu expressed through the media his desire to make up for the Chinese Super League. But this team is a civilian division, and it is preparing for the new season according to the Chinese League One, even if it is added to the Chinese Super League, it is difficult to make much waves.

There is an argument that the downsizing of the Chinese Super League from 18 teams to 16 teams will affect revenue such as broadcast rights and commercial sponsorships. Now the broadcast rights and commercial sponsorship of the Chinese Super League will not change much because of the lack of two teams. At present, the new media broadcasting rights of the Chinese Super League are still only Tencent, and it is not easy to find a new broadcast platform. At the same time, leagues with heavy water injection are more difficult to attract investment.

Changing the tide is not advisable, but the return of the Chinese Super League from 18 teams to 16 teams is a kind of self-correction. Of course, the most important driving force here is the inability of Guangzhou City to complete the debt settlement work, and the voluntary abandonment of Kunshan FC. In addition, in the context of anti-gambling and anti-gangsterism, the new season of the Chinese Super League is more important to reshape the image, squeeze out the moisture of the professional league is a priority, and the drawdown helps to reverse the current situation.

In addition, Wuhan Yangtze River and Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopards were disbanded, the Hebei team did not submit materials, and the Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic, Zibo Qiju, Beijing Beitai University and other teams did not obtain access qualifications, resulting in the same downsizing of the Central A, China B and the Chinese Super League. If the Chinese Super League forcibly maintains 18 teams, the number of participating clubs in China A and China B will either be further reduced or hastily expanded, which will only make the situation of China A and China B more unbearable and cause a series of problems.

In the current situation, the return of the Chinese Super League to 16 teams is a helpless move, but it should also be the most feasible plan at the moment. Chinese football is once again facing a total demolition and reconstruction, and the Chinese Super League is the benchmark for Chinese football, and it also needs to rebuild its credibility. The Chinese Super League no longer has super foreign players such as Teixeira and Ravitch, and playing more quality matches that can stand the test of time is king. Only in this way can fans gradually return to the stadium.

Ma Dexing, a famous member of Sports Weekly, previously said at a media briefing of the preparatory group of the Chinese Football Federation that even if the Chinese Super League becomes 14 teams or 12 teams, it can still follow the example of some European leagues to play three rounds or playoffs. There are 12 clubs in the Soviet Premier League and 14 clubs in the Greek Premier League, which does not affect the normal operation of these leagues. The Chinese Super League has achieved rather lack than abuse this time, which is not only not a bad choice, but should be a more reasonable choice at the moment.