The Chinese Super League (CSL) has suffered yet another setback as Guangzhou City announced that they will be stopping operations and will not participate in the new season set to begin next month. This announcement comes after eight clubs, including City, were disqualified ahead of the 2023 season, which is scheduled to start on April 15.
City, who placed 15th in the elite division last year, were not included in a list published by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) on Wednesday, which included the 48 teams qualified to compete in the nation’s three-tier professional system for the 2023 season. Other clubs disqualified were second-tier teams Kunshan FC, Shaanxi Chang’an Athletic, Zibo Cuju, Beijing BSU, and Xinjiang Tianshan Show Leopards, as well as Wuhan Yangtze and Hebei FC, who were all demoted from the CSL last season.
City announced their decision to stop playing on social media, joining a rising number of teams that have struggled since the end of the league’s “golden age”, when famous players and head coaches were attracted by big pay. In fact, only a few months after winning the CSL championship in 2020, Jiangsu FC folded, while Guangzhou FC, a past Asian champion, has struggled to survive.
Prior to now, Chinese teams have been able to compete with the richest clubs in the world to sign elite players, drawing some of the best talent in the sport, including World Cup-winning managers Marcello Lippi and Luiz Felipe Scolari. In 2016, Shanghai SIPG, now known as Shanghai Port, recruited Brazilian internationals Oscar and Hulk for a total of 110 million euros ($119.13 million), while Argentine Ezequiel Lavezzi joined Hebei FC and became one of the highest-paid players in the world.
However, a government crackdown on private sector debt buildup, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic effects, have put many clubs under severe financial hardship. This has led to the disqualification of these eight clubs, including City, from the professional pyramid.
This latest setback is a blow to the CSL, which has already been struggling to attract top talent due to financial difficulties. The league’s reputation has also been tarnished by allegations of match-fixing and corruption. It remains to be seen how the league will recover from this latest blow and whether it can regain its status as one of the world’s top football leagues.
