2022, the beginning of uncovering the shady scene——How can Chinese football be considered a "professional" in 2023

  In the last few days of January, Chinese football was even busier.

  On the 28th and 29th, the Chinese Football Association successively announced the training lists of the Chinese Olympic Team and the Chinese Asian Games Team. The U22 team officially promoted to the "National Olympics" and will undertake the important task of going to the 2024 U23 Asian Cup (Paris Olympic qualifier); the head coach of the Asian Games is Jankovic, who will undertake the task of this year's Hangzhou Asian Games. From the 4th to the 14th, the first training session of this year was held in Foshan, Guangdong. It is worth mentioning that this training session did not recruit overage players.

  The "top 8" goal proposed by the Asian Games team may be realized.

According to the Asian Games competition system, the top two of the 6 groups and the 4 best third placers can qualify. Therefore, for the Asian Games team, the game that really determines the fate is only the first round of knockout after the group qualifying. The last Jakarta In the Asian Games, the Chinese team qualified first in the group but was blocked from the top 8 by the third-placed Saudi team in another group. Judging from this, it is not an exaggeration for the Asian Games team to strive for the top 8.

Compared with the Asian Games team, the National Olympic team is really unable to put forward a clear goal: Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics directly entered the finals as the host, the National Olympic team has failed in three consecutive Olympic qualifiers. Lazevic led the team and did not even enter the finals. At that time, there were many powerful players in the team such as Wu Xi and Zhang Linpeng. Then in the two Olympic qualifiers in 2016 and 2020, the two national Olympic teams led by Fu Bo and Hao Wei also stayed. The next group suffered a miserable three-game losing streak.

For Olympic football, which has a total of 16 teams shortlisted and only 3.5 places in Asia, the gap in strength of the Chinese National Olympics is indeed obvious. The fans can feel at ease if they can play at a "normal level" in this National Olympics.

  In 2023 and 2024, the full-scale attack of all national-ranked teams will always bring surprises that "the east is not bright and the west is bright", but what really makes fans "disturbed" is the structural design of Chinese football infrastructure-in the final analysis , The quality of the professional league and the quality and performance of the national team complement each other. The lack of confidence of the Chinese national team is precisely due to the professional league that started in 1994. There are still many fatal loopholes in the "professional" level that need to be repaired. .

  On the evening of January 25th, the Wuhan Yangtze River Club, which was in the "eye of the storm", announced that it would no longer register to participate in the men's professional football matches organized by the Chinese Football Association. The upper equal sign.

  The "withdrawal statement" of the Wuhan Yangtze River Club is not abrupt.

The 2022 season of the Chinese Super League is over, and the three teams of Hebei, Guangzhou, and Wuhan Changjiang have been relegated. Based on their own economic conditions and the "match-fixing storm" caused by the former head coach Li Tie who was "suspected of serious violations" is still under investigation, the club withdrew. The professional league is only a matter of time. In fact, the club's statement also specifically explained for the fans: "The club has a highly responsible attitude, communicates friendly, properly handles various aftermath tasks, and settles all salaries and social insurance for the coaching staff and players (some Except for coaches and some of their players, foreign aid, and individual players who violate team discipline, which will be dealt with according to law.)

  According to Article 48 (heavy punishment), Article 72 (other falsification), Article 73 (serious violation of the spirit of fair competition) and Article 7 of the "Chinese Football Association Disciplinary Guidelines" newly revised in 2022 Article 14 (unfair transactions) and other related clauses, the possibility of Wuhan Yangtze River Club being "disqualified from registration" by the Chinese Football Association before the new season is obvious.

  Although expected, the Wuhan Changjiang Club's "exit statement" still made many fans sigh: In recent years, from Tianjin Tianhai to Jiangsu Suning to Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic and then to Wuhan Yangtze River, the "exit rate" of Chinese Super League teams is a bit dazzling.

What is also certain is that Wuhan Changjiang will not be the only professional club that "no longer registers to compete" before the new season, at least the Guangzhou and Hebei teams that are facing economic desperation, and even the Shenzhen team that has successfully relegated in the Super League. The Guangzhou city team still has the risk of "hosting" or "exiting" until the last moment when the problem is really solved.

According to the reporter's understanding, the Chinese Football Association is determined enough to "reject" teams that owe wages, so it does not hesitate to reduce the size of the league: the existing 18-team Chinese Super League may return to the scale of 16 teams participating, and the same 18 teams The participating Chinese League One and Chinese League Two will also confirm the competition system and schedule according to the specific situation of each team. "In principle, it is to ensure the healthy progress of the league."

  The history of the Chinese professional league owes a lot of debts, and it is time to cut the mess quickly.

From 1994 to 2004, the League A was renamed the Chinese Super League. The phenomenon of "fake betting on gangsters" has become a huge cancer in Chinese football. An earth-shaking anti-gambling and anti-crime storm in Chinese football.

This round of turmoil lasted for two years, in exchange for several years of peace in the professional league. Now that more than ten years have passed, another clean-up storm with a wider scope is ready to go. As for this wave of anti-corruption and anti-counterfeiting that started within Chinese football Let fans all over the country look forward to the Chinese football moth's law-if there is no determination of Wuhan Yangtze River Club and former head coach Li Tie to "die together" and report in accordance with legal procedures, Chinese football 2022 will leave great regrets instead of a revelation The beginning of the shady scene.

  Only health can develop. What professional leagues need is "stability" and "professionalism", not amateur decision-making of "changing orders at night" and "slapping heads".

  If nothing else, the 2023 new professional league season will start in mid-May. Regardless of the number of participating teams, the biggest good news is of course that the 2023 professional league resumes the home and away system-this will greatly reduce the pressure on clubs to attract investment.

The closed game system that lasted for three seasons before (conditional opening of fans to enter the stadium and partial restoration of the home and away system in the later period) separated the professional league from the fans. The secondary leagues below the Chinese Super League, even in the era of information explosion, cannot Few fans also need to inquire about the progress of the game. As for the details of the game that they like to talk about, it has become a "luxury" during the time when the media is compressed during the closed period.

"Let the fans enter the stadium to watch the football" can greatly reduce the operating pressure of the club, but the specific measures of "treating the fans well" will also test the club's business philosophy.

  Even if the full-scale attack of the national brand in the new year can reap unexpected surprises, even if the home and away system of the new season can bring the professional league back to the daily life of fans, it will not be able to quickly fill in the hidden dangers behind the "profession" of Chinese football: Lawsuits over wage arrears, clubs' need to increase income and reduce expenditure, repairs to the professional youth training system, and even the organization and coordination of youth leagues are all closely related to the "professional" indicators of the Chinese Football New Year.

  In the era of poor performance in foreign wars, fans who are willing to spend time, energy and money watching professional leagues are really the most precious wealth of Chinese football. This is the mission of football itself, and it is also the "professional" element that Chinese football should consider most.

(China Youth Daily and China Youth Net reporter Guo Jian)

  (Source: China Youth Daily, Edition 08, January 31, 2023)