CFA releases annual financial report for the first time

According to a report by the Beijing News, on January 17 2017, the Third Session of the Tenth General Meeting of the CFA (the China Football Association) was held at Wuhan Tazi Lake Training Base. Zhang Jian, the General Secretary and Deputy Chairman of the CFA, released the 2017 Financial Budget Report, which is the first time that the CFA has ever released its financial report.

As shown in the CFA Financial Report, the budgetary revenue target of the CFA (including the China Football Industry Development Corp.) in 2017 is RMB 0.78 billion, an increase of 2% from 2016; budgetary expenditure including fees, taxes and additional costs is RMB 0.67 billion, an increase of 45% from 2016; capital expenditure is RMB 84 million, and net assets are set to increase by about RMB 80 million.

This Budget Report has listed specific plans (suggestions) for the CFA’s fees and expenditure distribution (except taxes and additional costs) in 2017. The detailed budgetary plans are as follows:

1. The budget for national sports teams at all levels is RMB 0.186 billion, mainly for expenditure related to training, matches and coaches.

2. The budget for youth talent training is RMB 0.121 billion, mainly for youth teams at different levels, matches and special youth training.

3. The budget for women’s football development is RMB 64million, mainly for women’s football teams, matches and public promotional activities for women’s football in cooperation with FIFA.

4. The budget for other competitions is RMB 88 million, mainly for the China League, C2L , the qualifying matches for the National Games, The Five League and the China Amateur Football League.

5. The budget for football skills training is RMB 33 million, mainly for the training of coaches and referees at different levels, various full-time instructors and foreign experts and the national football personnel training.

6. The budget for football promotion is RMB 61 million, mainly for “I love football”, football public welfare programs and football promotion.

7. The budget for CFA operation is RMB 98 million, mainly for rent and property management, administration, international exchange and human costs.

8. Capital expenditure is RMB 84 million, mainly for the upgrade of the Xianghe Training Base & project expenditure (about RMB71 million in total) as well as other expenditure.

Zhang Jian also mentioned the development of the CSL (the Chinese Super League) and other events in the report. “After signing the new media rights agreement, the overall investment, management level and brand influence of the CSL are all steadily improving; the China League has made breakthroughs in data analysis and live match broadcasting; C2L participating clubs are from 19 cities in 14 provinces, which covers most clubs and the largest area in the 3 leagues. Meanwhile, other long-standing problems that once hampered the development of the league are also getting alleviated or solved.” 

Source: Sports Money 

Proofread by Sean O Diobhilin