Chinese Super League losing its lustre ahead of new campaign
HONG KONG: Against a backdrop of club closures and continuing COVID-19 restrictions, the Chinese Super League returns on Friday (Jun 3) with the competition struggling for relevance after losing the star power that once had it threaten to disrupt the global game.
Long gone are the days when clubs were breaking transfer records to lure leading names, and instead the Chinese Super League is counting the cost of another outfit shuttering its doors just 10 days before the season's start.
The decision by the owners of Chongqing Athletic to dissolve the club last week due to mounting debts echoed the move a year earlier by the Suning Group to wind up then-champions Jiangsu FC soon after claiming their first Chinese Super League crown.
Chongqing's closure comes ahead of a season where the leag...