BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Super League (CSL) side Beijing Guoan will most likely keep its 28-year-old name, according to the chief of Chinese Football Association (CFA).
The CFA introduced regulations last December requiring clubs to remove reference to sponsors or investors in the club names in a bid to keep the club name stable in the long run.
"The Sinobo Group's purchase of Citic Guoan shares in the club is underway, which will keep the club name as Beijing Guoan," CFA president Chen Xuyuan said in a live streaming interview on Friday.
As Citic Guoan will no longer be Guoan club's investor, the club is able to keep Guoan in its name which it has used since its founding in December 1992. China launched its professional football league, the First Division League, in 1994, which is the predecessor of the current Chinese Super League.
"In the past, the club owners changed quickly, so that the club names also had to change. It was not beneficial to cultivating the football culture in China," Chen explained. Enditem
