We’re back with ‘This Week In Chinese Football’. From new league information, to players going awol, this week’s edition has all you need to know of the Chinese goings on throughout the past week.
CFA Announce Enlargement Of CL2 For 2019
The Chinese FA announced that the Chinese Third Tier otherwise known as the Chinese League Two is to be expanded at the end of the 2018 season.
Currently there are 28 teams competing in the league divided into two regional sections of North and South.
Looking ahead to 2019, the Chinese FA want to expand the league from 28 to 32 meaning to regional divisions of 16.
To accommodate this, at the end of the 2018 season in the Chinese Fourth Tier known as the China Champions League, the best four sides will automatically be promoted to China League Two; with the fifth and sixth best sides facing the two worst sides (ranked 27/28th) from League Two.
Five Haves And One Up
In a recent conference, Li Yuyi, the Vice President of the Chinese FA stated the clear goals of the future of Chinese football.
Translated, he used the term ‘Five Haves And One Up’
The goals were as follows:
Haves:
To have more effective play with the time left.
To have a much improved match discipline.
To have better youth training.
To have higher attendances improving fan accreditation.
To have an expanded market in which to venture.
Up:
Raise up the standard and up to another level of standard for club management.
In truth these are all very relatively easy aspects in which many people could have picked out as what needed to improve but which the CFA clearly having these goals in place shows their commitment to improving the game in China.
Hide And Seek: Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are
Jiangsu Suning this week came out with the news that the have had no contact or have not been able to get contact with three of their players including former Chelsea star Ramires, top youngster Erpän Ezimjan and local talent Yang Boyu.
Suning have continuously tried to keep contact with the players but if seems as if they have all gone of grid.
Ramires’ issues should be taken as no surprise as according to reports he has been longing for a return home to Chelsea or a move to a side the Suning group currently own, Inter Milan. However these actions are inexcusable and it’s certainly making him look unprofessional.
As for the other players, it’s anyone’s guess as to why they have gone off grid.
Let’s just hope we hear from them soon.
That’s it for ‘This Week In Chinese Football’. Don’t forget, this week’s third round CSL fixtures include a hotly anticipated Tianjin derby between Quanjian and Teda, you’d be mad to miss it.