Manuscript source: Beijing Youth Daily
After the end of the 2020 Chinese Super League season, where will the Chinese Super League go next season? Chen Xuyuan, chairman of the Chinese Football Association, recently stated publicly that “the possibility of the competition system next year (Chinese Super League) is very high.” In view of the complexity of the international and domestic epidemics and various other factors, the Chinese Football Association is designing the competition plan for next year’s competitions. China should focus on "large probability", but also cannot ignore "small probability". It is understood that the launch of the Chinese Super League schedule and competition system in the new season depends on a variety of factors, among which the "World Preliminary Asian Top 40 National Football Preparation and Competition Arrangement" is one of the decisive factors.
"Accidental" results benefited from a special format?
The 2020 Chinese Super League season (except for the Super A relegation playoffs) ended on November 12. Jiangsu Suning defeated the defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande and won the top professional league title for the first time in history. In the special season, this new idea will undoubtedly make the domestic professional football feel excited.
However, Suning's victory, together with the early relegation of TEDA and Jianye at the bottom of the first stage, has benefited from the special competition system of the Super League this season. "Unexpected" results followed one after another, which also led to a wider range of discussions about the pros and cons of the league system.
Chen Xuyuan, Chairman of the Chinese Football Association, answered this: “Looking forward to next year’s league, according to the current international and domestic epidemic prevention and control situation, I personally think that the possibility of next year’s game system is very high.” Regarding serious professional league game system issues, Chen Xuyuan certainly does not It will come out casually, and its explanation is reasonable: "If home and away games are restored, if the epidemic in a certain area rebounds sporadically, it will be a huge harm to our league. If the game system is used, we have a mature game system management experience this year. With experience, you can ensure the smooth progress of the league."
Who supports "the league's return to home and away systems"?
It is not difficult to judge from Chen Xuyuan’s statement that it will be a high probability event that the 2021 Super League will continue to adopt the game system. Including Chen Xuyuan himself, the Chinese Football Association does not deny the possibility of "resuming home and away games in the Super League next year", but the important prerequisite for its implementation is that the domestic epidemic prevention work objectively meets all the necessary conditions for adopting this game system.
In fact, the call for "restoring the home and away system" comes more from various stakeholders and fans of the league, including sponsors. In the just-concluded 2020 Super League season, affected by the epidemic, a large number of games were played in empty stadiums without spectators. Even though some fans were allowed to enter the game in the middle and late stages of the league, the number of spectators in most games was only a few thousand, and the number of spectators at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center in the second round of the final was only more than 9,000. A club official said frankly that his club lost more than 50 million yuan in ticket revenue this season. It can be seen that the Super League this season at least produced a huge loss in terms of ticket revenue.
What makes businesses complain is that due to the overall reduction of league games by 1/3 (from 240 games to 160 games), the brand performance of commercial partners at all levels of the league has been greatly reduced, and this has brought the full season revenue of the Chinese Super League. The losses here are also huge. If sponsors use this as an excuse to reduce sponsorship spending, it will also bring huge economic losses to the Chinese Football Association. Under this circumstance, it is normal to have strong calls for "resuming home and away league systems".
The top 40 brings many uncertainties
In addition to the unpredictable epidemic, the reasons in the football field are also unavoidable. In the early morning of November 18, Beijing time, FIFA and AFC respectively announced through official channels that the 2020 Club World Cup, originally scheduled to be held in December this year, was confirmed to be held in Qatar from February 1 to 11 next year. It is not difficult to judge from this that the 2021 AFC Champions League (qualifier) will not start until late February at the earliest. In addition, the remaining games of the Qatar World Preliminary Asian Top 40 will not be held until March next year at the earliest. Therefore, all this has added difficulty to the design of the new season professional league competition plan for the member associations of the AFC. Naturally, the Chinese Football Association also needs it. Dynamically follow the development of the epidemic and international football trends.
It is understood that at the end of this season of the Super League, the Chinese Football Association has consciously asked various Chinese Super League clubs for pre-season preparation plans for this winter and next spring, thinking that the national football team is seeking the possibility of implementing a new training plan as soon as possible. However, the four Chinese Super League clubs that are currently major international players are participating in the AFC Champions League in Qatar. In addition, the FA Cup did not end until December 19, so the necessary vacation time is taken away and the time for the national football team to arrange winter training is very limited. In this case, how to arrange the Chinese Super League and other domestic professional sequence competitions at all levels in the new season also makes it difficult for the Chinese Football Association. Under this circumstance, following this season's game system is infinitely close to reality.
As for the actual losses caused by the game system to all parties, the Chinese Football Association also hopes that the club can fully understand. Although the tournament system will cause various losses to clubs, including ticket revenue, it may also save clubs in other aspects. For example, the hotel rooms provided by the two major divisions of the Chinese Super League this season have an average daily room rate of less than RMB 500 (including breakfast). It is also worth noting that the total number of matches in the league is small, and the amount of prize money paid by each club for this purpose has also been greatly reduced.
Of course, from an operating point of view, the Chinese Super League cannot rely on “province” for profit, but use all available reasonable and legal conditions to pursue both social value and economic benefits. A person in charge of a Chinese Super League club has also made it clear, "We will strive to make the Chinese Super League the most reasonable and most in line with the characteristics of the professional league according to the actual situation and reason."
It is worth noting that after this season's competition for the championship and runner-up in the Chinese Super League, the leaders of the Chinese Football Association and the league staff who had previously been stationed in the Suzhou division returned to various places for a short rest, but they have recently rushed back to Suzhou. As the next Football Association Cup matches will also be held in Changzhou and Suzhou, the Chinese Football Association will strengthen communication on the new season's league schedule and competition system in the next month, and reach a consensus as soon as possible.
