The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced on Wednesday that the postponed Chinese Super League (CSL) 2020 season, which was originally scheduled to begin on February 22, will kick off on July 25.
Coach Fabio Cannavaro (C) and players from Guangzhou Evergrande celebrate their eighth Chinese Super League title on December 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)
Suzhou and Dalian(in the northern Liaoning Province) have been selected as the two host cities to start the season.
Suzhou Sports Center , Suzhou Olympics Sports Center and Kunshan Sports Center will serve as the food stadiums in Suzhou. Besides, Taihu Football Center of Suzhou will accomodate the eight CFA teams and carry out the closed-off management of Olympic Village.
Suzhou Sports Center
Suzhou Olympics Sports Center
Kunshan Sports Center
Taihu Football Center of Suzhou
The Chinese top flight is reportedly to be contested behind closed doors. The 16 teams will be divided into two groups, which will follow the traditional home-away round robin format, with the top four teams in each group moving into Final A and the bottom four falling into Final B.
Shanghai SIPG players take part in the first public training following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, May 7, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
Chinese football's governing body also said that the CSL will open its second transfer window of the season from July 2 to July 29, while the third window will cover the entire month of September. The first transfer window concluded on February 28.
