The policy for the 2025 season has been fine-tuned, and the Chinese Super League may add a B list for the U21 players of the second team

Reporter Chen Yong reports On December 11, the management of the professional league held a meeting of the Chinese Super League clubs. At this meeting, the participants discussed the foreign aid policy, the league squad and other related issues, and then the management department communicated with the clubs of the first and second divisions. Next, the 2025 Chinese Super League and the Chinese League A and China B League policies will be implemented one by one - the content will remain stable overall, and some policies may be fine-tuned.

At present, China's third-level professional leagues have the Chinese Super League, the Chinese Super League and the Chinese Second Division. At the Chinese Super League meeting held on the 11th, it was mainly aimed at the Super League policy for the 2025 season.

At this Chinese Super League meeting, the most critical thing is the foreign aid policy, especially the single-game registration and appearance policy of foreign aid. To this end, the professional league administration has provided several options for clubs to discuss. One is to report 5 on 5, which is basically the same as the current exit policy; The second is to sign up for 6 people and play 5 people, which is actually a 5+1 policy.

This was discussed by the representatives of the Chinese Super League clubs, and the management will finally introduce a foreign aid policy based on the discussions of the representatives. There is also the possibility of adjusting the number of foreign aid places registered throughout the year and registered at the same time. The previous policy of the Chinese Super League was 7655, that is, each team in the Chinese Super League can register up to 7 foreign players throughout the season, up to 6 people at the same time, up to 5 foreign players per game, and up to 5 foreign players at the same time.

At this Super League meeting, the delegates also discussed the issue of the registration quota of the Super League, and the registration quota is expected to be adjusted. For the 2024 season, the Chinese Super League registration list is a 25+5+5 policy, that is, 25 unlimited local players, 5 foreign players and 5 locally trained U21 players. Due to the restriction of homegrown development, some clubs only signed up for a 30-man roster. It should be noted that there are great limitations on the concept of local training, which was previously cultivated by the club or the football association where the club is located.

The 35-man squad was introduced for the 2020 season in response to the tournament format, and with the current full return to the home-and-away format, it is normal for the roster to tighten further. For now, the number of unrestricted homegrown players in the first team could be reduced to 22 or 23, plus five or six foreign players, making up a 27 to 28-man roster. The remaining seven to eight places are for homegrown Under-21 players. Of course, the concept of indigenous culture is expected to be relaxed, such as continuous registration or change to cumulative registration.

A possible policy is that the first team squad of the Chinese Super League will be divided into A list and B list, the players of the A list are unlimited local players plus foreign aid, and the B list is the young players trained locally, of which the players of the B list can be shared with the B team of the Chinese Super League club, which is a policy that is conducive to young players playing games. In the 2025 season, the B team of four teams from Shandong Taishan, Shanghai Port, Chengdu Rongcheng and Wuhan Three Towns will compete in the second division. In the 2024 season, the players of Taishan B and Harbour B who participate in the Chinese Second League are not allowed to enter the club's first-team registration squad, and the U21 players who are registered in the Taishan and Harbour first team are also unable to play in the B team, resulting in some young players not being able to play - if this policy is finalized, it will undoubtedly be good news for young players.

In addition, in the new season, the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League will most likely follow the original "promotion two and reduction two" relegation system; Whether to implement a new relegation and relegation system between the U21 League and the China Second League is subject to further negotiation between the parties.

According to the Football Association's schedule, the list of clubs admitted to the professional league for the new season is expected to be released in early January next year. As for the opening time of the new season at all levels of the league, at the Chinese Super League meeting, the participants preliminarily agreed that the start time of the first round of the Chinese Super League will be the first weekend in late February, that is, February 22. If there is no accident in the Chinese League, it should start on March 15.