Interprovincial takeovers to be banned in Chinese football

In a bid to stabilize Chinese football, interprovincial club takeovers are to be banned. This ban will take effect early next year,according to a news report from Ifeng.

This follows the annual review meeting of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) , recently held in Xi’an. The meeting highlighted issues related to the acquisition of football clubs in the Chinese Super League, the China League and the CFA Second Division. 

It was decided that clubs planning to sell need to complete their transfer work by January 10, 2016. After that, clubs will be banned from completing any interprovincial transactions. Moreover, if a club is named after a local city, the club can only be sold within that city. This means the era of Chinese football clubs being bought and sold freely has come to an end.

It is 21 years since Chinese football went professional in 1994. During this period Chinese clubs have changed ownership nearly 200 times, which has left the entire Chinese professional football business in turmoil. The CFA stated firmly that, once the regulation is officially issued, all clubs must act in accordance with it. If a club breaks the rule, it will lose its membership.  

Source: Ifeng

Proofread by John Devlin