The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is getting closer to building the Chinese Super League into a modern professional football league. According to Oriental Sports Daily, Zhang Li, chairman of Guangzhou R&F, will be appointed as CEO of the league.

Zhang will also lead the preparatory group which is made up of investors from Guangzhou R&F, namely Dalian Yifang, Henan Jianye and Shandong Luneng Taishan. These are interesting choices of personnel because only Shandong of the four clubs are the heavyweights that have won championships before. Therefore, it should be safe to assume that the interests of middle- and small-clubs will receive more attention.

The CFA disclosed the latest progress at a press conference on Wednesday. The new league is expected to be established by the end of 2019 and the CFA will not hold any share in the new league. The current 36-percent shares it has in the CSL Company, will go to all 16 clubs.

The CFA will keep the veto over major decisions and exercise authority to supervise the professional league by signing documents, including memorandum of understanding. The association will keep a rein on the use of veto and leave major issues for the 16 clubs to decide via voting.

This is a significant step in Chinese football development. The association is delegating powers to the league, which will need to operate on its own. The investors of the teams will take over, run the league together, benefit together and of course, bear the responsibilities and consequences together.

There will be a lot on the investors' plate, including policies on U-23 and foreign players, game schedule and referee judgment.