The first round of the 2017 Chinese Super League (CSL) season is now completed. CGTN's daily sports program, 'Sports Scene,' has combed through how the new “U23” rule was implemented at fields around the country.

This freshly adopted regulation states that each of the CSL team must have at least two players under the age of 23 on their match day roster, including one in the starting 11. 

A total of 108 U-23 players are registered in the CSL, and 22 of them saw action during the opening weekend. Eighteen of those youths were in starting lineups, while four more came on as substitutes. Five of the players in the starting 11 were kept on for the entire game, while three were substituted out after 45 minutes. Ten of them played less than one half, with the shortest time being just 16 minutes. No U-23 players were able to score.

As for positions, seven of the U-23 players went on as defenders, 11 as midfielders, and four as forwards. 

In terms of playing time, the total for all U-23 players combined was 1,236 minutes, for an average time of 56.18 minutes per player. The youths in the starting 11 accounted for 1,188 of those total minutes, at an average of 66 minutes per starter.

'Sports Scene' talked to football commentator Yan Qiang, the founder of Score Sports, who discussed the implementation of the new “U23” rule, and talked about the contributions foreign players are expected to make to the future of football in China.

Yan said that “Liaoning did not adhere to the principle of the U-23 rule. Among 18 starters who under-23 teams of all clubs, 5 of them had gone through matches, totaling 1,118 minute. Foreign players all had quite amazing performances, and they are really dominant in the realm of striking."

"As Shanghai Shenhua still has five international players, it could be quite waste of talent, because they can only use three of them at a time. I think the CSL will control the total amount of foreign players, and will not remain at the current level. But the cost of, and investment in, foreign players will go even higher -- despite the limitation in numbers,” he added.