Chinese Super League re-scheduled for World Cup qualifiers

SHANGHAI - The Chinese Super League (CSL) has been re-scheduled for the national team to prepare for the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers final round and the league will re-start on July 15, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced on Monday.

The Chinese men's football team is scheduled to play two qualifying matches each month in September, October and November this year. As the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) insisted the tournament will be organized in a home-away format and the Chinese internationals have to follow a 14-day quarantine policy when they return to China from away games, it is almost impossible for the CSL matches to be played as planned during the three-month period.

According to the new CSL fixtures, the first phase will be played from July 15 to August 12, while the second phase will be played from Dec 1 to Jan 3, 2022.

Since the 16 CSL teams have already been divided into Group A and Group B at the beginning of this season, the top four teams in both groups will enter the "Championship Zone" after the end of the first phase, while the other eight teams will be allocated into "Relegation Zone".

When all the second phase matches finish, the team in the "Championship Zone", which has earned the most points during the two phases, will be the champion of the CSL this season.

In addition, the CFA Cup will start on July 31, and the CFA Cup final is planned to kick off on Nov 13 or 14 this year.