Aiming for higher goals

League appeal wanes

At the league level, the continuous financial struggles of even some of the country's most celebrated clubs set the tone for a gloomy 2024 season, with the total number of spectators attending Chinese Super League matches dropping to its lowest since 2015 at 4.66 million.

The disbanding of eight-time CSL champion club Guangzhou FC after the 2024 season, due to heavy debts stemming from the impact of the pandemic and profligate spending on imported players, triggered mixed reactions from the sport's community, with fans lamenting the fall of the giant, while critics hailed the end of the "big-spending" era of the Chinese leagues.

The club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande, together with another CSL team Cangzhou Mighty Lions and the third tier's Hunan Billows, all failed to pass CFA's financial review for entry into the 2025 season, winding up being disbanded by investors, which further exposed the fragile financial status of China's soccer pyramid.

Once relying on cash-rich owners, CSL clubs enjoyed short-lived success on the continental stage in the 2010s, highlighted by Guangzhou's AFC Champions League wins in 2013 and 2015, led by World Cup-winning managers Marcello Lippi of Italy and Brazil's Luiz Scolari, respectively, and bolstered by expensive squads, filled with high-profile imports.

The lure of Chinese clubs, funded by millionaires from the retail and real estate industries, proved too lucrative for even some of Europe's top stars to turn down, drawing the likes of former Argentina international Carlos Tevez and Brazilian internationals Oscar and Alexandre Pato to join CSL clubs for staggering transfer fees.

As the last of the big-name signings during the spending spree, former Chelsea midfielder Oscar bid farewell to his Chinese club Shanghai Port in December after helping the franchise defend its CSL title with an all-time, league-high ranking points total of 78, one point more than the previous record set by Guangzhou in 2013.

Meanwhile, Wuhan Jianghan edged out Changchun Dazhong Women by just one point to retain the CFA Women's Super League title in September, completing a stranglehold of five league championships in a row.