China to lower club quotas for foreign players amid new spending spree
Chinese Super League clubs will only be allowed to have four overseas players, with only three allowed to play at any one time
China will lower the number of overseas players allowed on domestic teams from five to four in an effort to cool the red-hot market for foreign talent, the Chinese Football Association said.
Clubs in the mega-rich Chinese Super League have splashed out more than US$400 million on domestic and foreign players this year after president Xi Jinping laid out his vision of turning the country into a football powerhouse.
The the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said only three foreigners from the same team would be allowed to play at any one time, according to a statement posted on the official social media account of the state-run Soccer Newspaper.
The new rules come a week before the Chinese Super League (CSL) transfer window opens and a day after Shanghai SIPG confirmed they had signed Chelsea’s Oscar for a reported €70.5 million (HK$571m).
“High-level foreign players have brought energy to the CSL and made CSL games more enjoyable, but they’ve created financial burdens for clubs and reduced opportunities for mainland players,” the CFA said.
