Off the wire
• 10,000 Fukushima children evacuated after nuclear disaster remain outside prefecture  • Roundup: Afghan forces recapture northern Dand-e-Ghori district, troops chasing militants  • China builds underground lab studying "origins of elements"  • Across China: Pere David's deer flood Dongting Lake  • Getting in shape becomes important task when warmer weather comes  • Loans in S. Korea to service firms post largest growth in Q4  • Malaysia to send team to inspect debris found in Mozambique: official  • Chinese amber researchers fighting commercial overexploitation  • China treasury bond futures close lower Thursday  • China Hushen 300 index futures close higher Thursday  
You are here: 　 Home

(Sports focus) Cashed-up Chinese Super League to kick off new season

Xinhua, March 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

After splashing out close to 300 million US dollars during the winter transfer window, the Chinese Super League (CSL) will kick off its new season on Friday with five-time defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande taking on Hebei China Fortune.

The CSL has drawn global attention over the past months, snapping up big name footballers with the most money in the international transfer market. It is expected that the splurge will help improve the level of the CSL and may change the hierarchy in the new season.

Guangzhou Evergrande may find it is difficult to win a consecutive sixth CSL title, as many other teams have landed world-class recruits ahead of the new season. The 42-million-euro's signing of Jackson Martinez has not repayed yet as Guangzhou suffered a worst start in the Asian Champions League with a draw and a loss in two matches.

Jiangsu Suning is tipped as the No. 1 challenger. The Nanjing-based club lavished a record 50 million euros (about 54 million US dollars) to buy Brazilian star Alex Teixeira, only days after its 28-million-euro (about 30 million US dollars) purchase of Ramires from Chelsea.

Zhang Jindong, president of Suning Commerce Group which owns Jiangsu Suning, said last month bluntly that he hopes his investment can draw more attention from the public.

"We think it is worth spending the money if it can improve the Chinese football," he said. "If we can build the foundation well, I am sure we can realize our goal to win the Chinese Super League in three years, and lift the AFC Champions League trophy in five years."

The winter transfer window also saw CSL runner-up Shanghai SIPG acquire Brazilian striker Elkeson de Oliveira Cardoso with 18.5 million euros (about 20.1 million euros) in January from Guangzhou while Shandong Luneng and Beijing Guoan respectively sign Brazil center-back Gil and Turkey international Burak Yilmaz.

Some newcomers joined on the big-spending bandwagon as well. Hebei China Fortune recruited Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi, the world's fifth most expensive soccer player, with a weekly salary of 400,000 pounds (about 563,000 US dollars).

However, opinions vary on whether the huge investment and foreign talent are enough to boost the standard of the national team. Some even argue that expensive imports would impede the development of Chinese soccer.

A proof is that the Chinese men's national team is on the verge of elimination from the 2018 World Cup. China, third in its qualifying group behind Qatar and Hong Kong, China, faces the Maldives at home on March 24 and Qatar on March 29. It needs to win both games to keep alive its hopes of qualifying. Endit