On July 5, a meeting concerning the fate of the Chinese Super League was held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai. The meeting determined the new system of this season's Super League: the original 30 rounds of the tournament condensed into 22 rounds, the first 14 rounds in mid-August before the completion of the national football training, the remaining 8 rounds will be delayed until the end of the year. This change means that the Chinese Super League will be the first time to implement the system across the year.
During the meeting, the clubs voted to opt for this tightened schedule. The move shortens the schedule but ensures that the national players can participate in the league. The FA, for its part, actually prefers to allow international players to participate in the league, both to mitigate the impact of the league and to ensure the status of the national team players.
After the meeting, the Super League will be suspended until the end of November, during which time the AFC Cup will be organized. This will be the first time in the history of the Chinese Super League that the competition will be held across the year, which will be a challenge for both players and clubs.
The implementation of the cross-year tournament system means that the Chinese Super League will face unprecedented challenges. on July 15, Guangzhou and Guoan will be the first to play, completing two byes. by August 12, teams will need to complete nine rounds of league games in 25 days. from December 1 to January 3, the final eight rounds of the tournament will be played.
Meanwhile, the FA Cup tournament will also be launched. The preliminaries for China B will be held from July 31 to Aug. 1, while the preliminaries for China A are scheduled for Aug. 18-20th. The main round of the F.A.C. Cup will start on Oct. 16, when 16 Chinese Super League teams, nine Chinese A, six Chinese B and one Chinese Championship team will take part.
It is worth noting that the final 8 rounds of the league will be changed from a screening system to a points competition. The first 14 rounds of the league will be divided into title contenders and relegation groups based on their results, followed by a two-round meeting between the divisions. Points from these 8 rounds will count towards the total points to determine the final league standings.
Compared to last year's screening system, the points system reduces the risk of chance and provides a fairer reflection of a team's performance throughout the year. However, it also means that each team will miss out on the opportunity to play four teams from different points zones in other divisions. (Sohu Sports Pei Li)
