CFA to 'help' 55 seeds develop in three months

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Two days after the release of the Chinese Super League's (CSL) U-23 policy "version 3.0," the Chinese Football Association on Tuesday revealed its true intention for the change – to console clubs for the drafting of 55 Chinese U-25 players who will attend an intensive training from Oct. 8 to Dec. 28.

The aim of this training is apparently to bring up the young talents, but may also relate to the rumored "CSL unmixed U-23/U-25 team," which is reportedly joining Chinese top flight football next season.

Shen Xiangfu, a 61-year-old Chinese football veteran and former Chinese Olympic team manager, was appointed the camp's main coach. He has abundant youth team coaching experience and is famous for his tough coaching style.

Shandong Luneng, Guangzhou Evergrande and Jiangsu Suning are contributing the most players – six, five and four, respectively. China League One (CLO) has seven players from five clubs taking part in the camp.

China's U-23 men's national football team at the 2018 Asian Games /VCG Photo

Some U-21 players who performed well at the 2018 Asian Games were not on the list as they are preparing for the Tokyo 2020 qualifications.

The 55 players will not appear in the rest of the 2018 CSL season. And even if some players are injured during the training, their clubs won't have to follow the old U-23 policy.

Only Beijing Renhe, Shanghai Shenhua and Guizhou Hengfeng will continue to implement the old policy, meaning they still have to play at least one U-23 player in the starting lineup for every foreign player that appears, which can be no more than three at a time, during matches.

Beijing Guoan's Wei Shihao in action during the 2018 Asian Games /VCG Photo

The under-25 players' absence will significantly weaken the current bottom club Guizhou, while strengthening top teams, as these young men have already become more or less mainstays on their respective rosters.

The CFA's move suggests that the result of the men's national team has become the main problem of the development of Chinese football, and the training essentially points to the next World Cup round, but some domestic media doubt whether "pulling seedlings" could really help them grow, as no similar measures have been taken abroad before.

The CFA also issued another call-up on the same day for the senior national team, demanding 23 players to participate in the nine-day (Oct. 8–16) training camp in Suzhou and Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, to prepare for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, which will be held from Jan. 5 to Feb.1. And during this training, Marcello Lippi will lead the team in two international friendlies against Syria and India.