20 | Tuesday, March 23, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY SPORTS SOCCER By SHI FUTIAN [email protected] Q&A Chen Xuyuan has warned that failure to reform Chinese soccer’s finances now would have devastat- Chen: Painful reforms ing consequences for the country’s professional leagues. “To end Chinese soccer’s spending spree, we need to be absolutely reso- lute,” the Chinese Football Associa- tion president said in a CCTV necessary to save CSL interview on Friday. “Many inves- tors have said it’s unsustainable to Chen Xuyuan keep operating like before. If we CFA president insists it’s now or never to avert major financial disaster don’t take any action, we could face Q: When will the 2021 season the wider financial collapse of Chi- kick off? nese soccer. A: We are making full prepara- “That is unacceptable. We need to tions for the new season, which will continue with the salary cap and start on April 20 after the women’s spending restrictions on clubs. national team’s Olympic qualifier. That’s a joint decision of the CFA This year we will have 30 rounds of and investors. The spending of a matches. Due to the pandemic, we Chinese Super League club is three shortened the schedule last season. times higher than a Japanese top- We used a tournament-style format tier club, and in some cases the sala- for the second phase of the 2020 ries of our players can be ten times season, which saw one team (Tian- higher than theirs. jin Jinmen Tiger) that won just one “But what about our players match in the second phase avoid strength on the pitch? And what relegation. about our investors’ abilities?... We Q: Will China’s professional are restricting the financial bubbles leagues be expanded? of our professional leagues. The A: According to our original pan, installation of the salary cap won’t we aim to expand the Chinese affect the quality of the league too Super League to 18 teams, the much, and it will still be one of the second-tier China League One to top leagues in Asia. We remain an 20 teams and the third-tier to 32 attractive proposition to good for- teams for the 2023 season. We eign players.” hope to make some preparations The latest casualty of the league’s for the expansion this season. We financial woes is Jiangsu FC. The have limited professional leagues, club formerly known as Jiangsu Sun- so many domestic players are ing ceased operations in late Februa- unable to compete in the pro ry, just months after being crowned ranks. From a marketing perspec- CSL champion for the first time. tive, expanding the CSL from 16 to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, formerly 18 teams will boost the domestic known as Tianjin Teda, is also soccer market. expected to miss out next season aft- Q: Will next season be opened er reportedly amassing unpaid play- to spectators? er wages and failing to submit the A: China has controlled the pan- relevant financial registration forms demic, so we hope to reopen on time. games to our fans, in both of the Before the start of the 2020 sea- two host cities, Suzhou and son, 16 teams of all levels, including Guangzhou. But that will be based then CSL outfit Tianjin Tianhai, on the local epidemic prevention were forced to quit China’s pro policies. And the CFA is encourag- ranks due to money troubles. How- ing players, coaches and our staff ever, Chen claims the outlook this to be vaccinated before the sea- year is not quite so bleak. son starts. “Last season more than a dozen Q: Where will the national clubs quit the professional leagues, team play its remaining 2022 and most of them were second- and World Cup Asian qualifiers? third-tier teams. This year, based on A: The CFA had communicated the current audit situation, about with the Asian Football Confedera- six or seven teams will quit due to tion to ensure Team China could financial problems,” he said. play its remaining World Cup qual- “We’ve noticed that some clubs ifiers in China. And the General are facing operational problems, Administration of Sport of China and we are communicating closely has given us great help to enable with them. It’s very hard for Jiangsu us to invite four other teams to to keep playing next season, so play in our country. Thanks to our they’ve decided to cease operations. country’s great job of fighting the “Tianjin Teda is also facing diffi- pandemic, it’s very safe to play in culties. We are also waiting for fur- China. Playing here will be a good ther confirmation about their plans choice. for next season. The CFA and the Q: What do you think of the General Administration of Sport of Clockwise from top: Slovakian playmaker Marek Hamsik, Brazilian stars Alex Teixeira and Hulk, and Italian international Graziano Pelle criticism of Chinese soccer? China are paying close attention to are among the foreign players to have left the Chinese Super League since the introduction of the new salary cap. XINHUA A: Chinese soccer has faced these problems and trying to find criticism for years as there is still a solutions. Personally speaking, it big gap between us and the truly is a pity to see a CSL champion are capped at 3 million euros ($3.3 past has loaded clubs with debt. And the clubs to complete the renaming changing policy for five to six years, world’s soccer powerhouses. As face such a situation.” million) before tax. Each club’s now with little or no profits to show process in the offseason, becoming and why couldn’t we see any long as we are making good annual expenditure on imported for it, investors are pulling the plug. Guangzhou FC, while the likes of progress?” said Chen. “Using neu- progress, we will have positive New era players should not exceed 10 million During Friday’s interview, Chen Beijing Guo’an has yet to announce tral names will benefit the clubs’ feedback from our fans. We have In December, the CFA installed euros before tax. said that soccer was part of “public its new name as the capital club healthier development. We have to try our best in our work. I’ve the strictest salary cap in its history, Those new limits have resulted in welfare”, taking a swipe at investors’ deals with issues regarding its own- established a special department to worked in the CFA for two years, aiming to set clubs on a healthier the exodus of a number of high-pro- retreat and urging them to show ership structure. review the new names. We don’t and I worked in companies for 46 development path. file stars, including former Shang- more “social responsibility”. Some observers have suggested have a preference on the choice of years. Before I worked here, I Beginning next season and appli- hai Port (then known as Shanghai That sparked heated discussion the CFA should grant clubs some names, just as long as they meet the sometimes criticized Chinese soc- cable through the 2023 campaign, SIPG) striker Hulk, who has online about the role of the corpo- leeway with the new policy as they requirements of the rules. cer. But now as the CFA president domestic players’ salaries in the CSL returned to his native Brazil to play rate world in the Chinese game. attempt to recover from the finan- “Some clubs may face money I feel the pressure and expecta- are capped at 5 million yuan for Atletico Mineiro, and Slovakian Investors have also been spooked cial impact of the COVID-19 pan- troubles due to the name-changing tions. We need to keep going for- ($760,000) before tax. In addition, playmaker Marek Hamsik, who has by new CFA rules which require demic. However, the CFA president requirement. But the policy is not ward and honor our responsibility clubs’ total expenditure each season departed Dalian Pro for Swedish clubs to remove references to spon- believes pressing ahead with “neu­ the main reason for their financial to continuously improve and should not surpass 600 million club IFK Goteborg. sors from their names. tral” names now is the right course plight. Also, investors’ profits from develop Chinese soccer. yuan. Fueled by investors’ cash, the Eight-time CSL champion of action. clubs do not just result from the SHI FUTIAN Foreign players’ wages in the CSL CSL’s pursuit of such players in the Guangzhou Evergrande was among “We have been pushing the name- exposure their name gets.” Prudent present offers brighter future, reckons Shao By SHI FUTIAN salaries when the Chinese soccer believes the former Shanghai Port market grows in the future with striker is capable of rediscovering Former China international Shao more revenue.” the fine form he enjoyed in his debut Jiayi has backed Chinese soccer’s Widely considered as signaling an The Chinese Super League’s salary cap is season with Espanyol in 2019, when financial reforms and reckons clubs end to the CSL’s big-spending era, beneficial to the league, the clubs and the the club was in the top flight. can survive the recent drain of cor- the Chinese Football Association in “Wu Lei’s current situation porate investment from the game. December introduced a stricter sal- players. The players are facing the reduction reminds me of my career in Germa- “The Chinese Super League’s sala- ary cap as part of a raft of new finan- of their salaries, but they will have more stable ny.