The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has been known for proposing outlandish ideas to stun the nation, such as barring local players from moving to foreign leagues, punishing clubs for their home games' low attendance, extending the half-time interval from 15-minutes to 30-minutes - just to name a few. But their latest stunts is beyond the pale.

According to several Chinese media outlets, the CFA is seriously mulling over whether to make the Chinese national team to play in the Chinese Super League (CSL), despite potential conflicts of interest, a clear breach of fair play rules and other vexing problems.

Some local newspapers, citing unidentified sources, even claimed that this bizarre proposal has already been cleared by governing authorities and set to take effect next year, prompting concerns that it could deal a death blow to the CSL, which has just begun to show welcome signs of progress after decades of development.

As the backlash against the controversial scheme grows, the CFA was forced to clear the air by issuing a public statement on Monday. 

"There have been reports claiming that the national team will play in the 2019 CSL, but those rumors are untrue," read the statement. "The number of teams and the competition format of the CSL will not subject to major changes next season."

"The CFA is still exploring a raft of measures to deepen reform... with an announcement to be made in due course," the CFA added.

In an attempt to improve the Chinese national team and breed homegrown talents, the CFA last week unveiled several restrictions on club investments, player transfer fees, salaries and bonuses.

The new regulations require clubs to rid themselves of profligate spending, while the salary cap will place a limit on the amount of money they can dish out to players.

Meanwhile, the transfer tax rules put in place last season will remain unchanged, with a 100 percent "adjustment fees" for foreign players over 6.48 million U.S. dollars, and Chinese players over 2.88 million U.S. dollars.