Chen Xuyuan greets attendees after being elected Chinese Football Association (CFA) president at a conference at the Xianghe National Football Training Center in north China's Hebei Province on Aug. 22, 2019. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
China's Football Assocation will impose salary caps for local players in a bid to help teams reduce financial burden.
BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Football Association (CFA) on Wednesday unveiled a series of new policies, including a salary cap, with the aim of improving the financial health of its clubs.
In a behind-closed-doors meeting with representatives of the Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs, CFA chairman Chen Xuyuan said they had decided to impose a salary cap from the new 2020 season.
According to the new policy, domestic players' annual salaries will be restricted to 10 million yuan RMB (1.45 million US dollars) before tax, while the annual salary for foreign players must not exceed three million euros after tax.
Formerly president of CSL side Shanghai SIPG, Chen was voted CFA chairman in August, and vowed to stop Chinese clubs spending excessive amounts of money.
"Our clubs have burned too much money and our professional football has not been run in a sustainable way," he said. "If we don't take timely action, I fear it will collapse."
Marko Arnautovic (2nd R) of Shanghai SIPG tussles with Marouane Fellaini (R) of Shandong Luneng Taishan during the CFA Cup semifinal in Shanghai on Aug. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)
During the meeting, the CFA also decided to limit the overall spending of each club, ruling that no club will be allowed to spend more than 1.1 billion yuan RMB (159 million U.S. dollars) next season, and that their total salary outlay must not surpass 60 percent of their overall spend.
Yang Nan, a board member of CSL side Henan Jianye, said the new policies have been welcomed by the clubs.
"No club can afford the repeated loss of billions of yuan, and there will be no more steady investment if this cannot be stopped," she said.
"In order to ensure the sustainable development of our leagues, these CFA policies must be strictly enforced," Yang added. ■
