Guangzhou pays penalty for crushing debts

Once relying on cash-rich investors and 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 millionaire owners from the retailing and real estate industries, proved too lucrative for even some of Europe's top stars to turn down in 2016, when, according to German sports website Transfermarkt, during that season's winter transfer window, CSL clubs collectively spent a staggering total of 334 million euros ($347 million), the highest of any league in the world at that time.

The likes of former Argentina international Carlos Tevez, Belgian star Axel Witsel and Brazilian internationals Oscar, Alexandre Pato and Paulinho all joined the top-flight Chinese league for eye-watering transfer fees.

As the last of the big-name signings during the spending spree, former Chelsea midfielder Oscar bid farewell to his CSL club Shanghai Port last month to rejoin his boyhood club Sao Paulo, capping off an eight-year China adventure that bore witness to the heyday of the Chinese leagues' cash-injected boom.

Now, with almost no big-name imports plying their trade in China, the CFA has called on all domestic clubs to invest reasonably, and to focus more on youth development and more sustainable operations for long-term success.

The CFA on Monday announced a list of 49 clubs that have passed its financial review to be eligible to compete in the top three tiers of the country's league system in the new season.

"The three clubs, which were denied entry into the new league season, had failed to provide sufficient materials to prove their financial ability to withstand operational risks and continue paying off their debts," the CFA said in a statement.

"Only by setting sights on the long term, keeping the status of their financial operations healthy and patiently investing in youth can clubs build a robust future."

To help curb excessive spending, the CFA announced last month that the 2025 season will see the continuation of the salary cap in the CSL, first imposed in 2020, to limit a domestic player's annual salary to 5 million yuan ($682,520) before tax, and each club's total expenditure on all its imported players' wages to 10 million euros ($10.4 million) before tax.

Sun Jihai, a former Manchester City defender and a formidable member of China's only World Cup squad in 2002, has reiterated on multiple occasions that Chinese clubs should invest more in developing the grassroots of the game in order to reap lasting success.

"Maybe we've been obsessed with results at the elite level for too long. It's time to get down to what really matters: Working on youth training and league development with long-term plans and consistent effort," said Sun, who, in recent years, has been running youth training programs in his native Liaoning province, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Yunnan province.