July 1 – The Chinese Super League season will finally kick off on July 25, five months after it was supposed to start.
The league was originally set to begin on February 22 but was postponed indefinitely because of the spread of COVID-19, which first emerged in China late last year.
“To satisfy people’s eager anticipation for the restoration of the CSL, the CFA decided that the 2020 CSL will be held on July 25 in Suzhou and Dalian,” the Chinese FA said in a statement on Wednesday.
They added that teams and officials would strictly adhere to safety measures with all games behind closed doors.
Teams are reported to be allowed into which ever host city they have been assigned to between July 10 and 17, with the majority of foreign players and coaches now reported to have arrived back in China.
Last month the start of the league was plunged into further doubt because of a new outbreak of Covid-19.
Zhang Wenhong, an infectious disease specialist, told state television that the outbreak in Beijing, where there have been more than 180 infections recorded in just over a week, could cause further delays with top-flight clubs needing to play up to three games a week in order to finish the entire season in 2020.
But despite this, after several failed attempts, the authorities have now given the green light.
Teams will play in the two city hubs – Suzhou near Shanghai and Dalian in the northeast of China. Rumours suggest that Wuhan Zall, the team from the city where the first cases of Covid-19 were recorded, will play in the season opener.
Chinese clubs have been heavily hit by Covid-19 with a slew of them folding under financial duress, including CSL side Tianjin Tianhai.
They have been replaced by Shenzhen FC who are among the eight teams in the Dalian hub along with reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande, while Suzhou will host last year’s runners-up Beijing Guoan and seven other sides.
Under plans proposed by the CFA in May, the teams in each hub will play a round robin with the top four qualifying for an eight-team “championship” stage and the bottom four from each going into a “relegation” phase.
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