Shandong celebrations can't lift gloom

Taishan crowned 2021 CSL champion but financial problems, player exits and dwindling fan interest persist for league

Shandong Taishan savored winning its fifth Chinese Super League title over the weekend, however the news barely caused a stir on social media amid dwindling interest in the financially stricken domestic game.

On Sunday, Shandong was crowned CSL champion for the first time in 11 years, with a 2-0 victory over Hebei FC wrapping up the title race with three matches to spare and sparking joyous scenes of celebration among the team's players.

"Before the game, the club informed me they would renew my contract and I agreed. Since 2014, I have dreamed of helping the team to win the championship, and I've finally made it," said an emotional Shandong goalkeeper Wang Dalei.

Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini netted Shandong's 21st-minute opener, and afterward the Belgian wrote on Weibo: "We are the 2021 champions. Proud of my team."

Among those offering congratulations to Fellaini was his former club Everton, through the English club's official Weibo account.

Young Shandong forward Guo Tianyu also shared the team's joy to media, saying: "We have tried hard to achieve this year's goal of winning the CSL title, and I want all the fans to share this excitement with us. We have the spirit of never giving up easily, and we all fight for the same result. There is still room for improvement, but we performed well today and produced a great result."

However, such excitement was limited to the club's hardcore fans, with many clubs struggling for survival amid financial woes that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 CSL season kicked off in April in host cities Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and Suzhou, Jiangsu province, without the league's 2020 champion Jiangsu FC following the club's financial demise earlier this year.

The league went on a hiatus in August to accommodate Team China's pandemic-affected 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

With China's chances of reaching the finals in Qatar all but gone following disappointing results in the United Arab Emirates, the league returned in December, cramming 64 matches into a 24-day period.

However, with the action resuming in the absence of many of the league's big-name stars, the CSL has undoubtedly lost its luster. With clubs feeling the financial pinch, many have parted ways with their expensive foreign players, including most of Team China's naturalized stars-some of whom claimed to be resting after the World Cup qualifiers in the UAE.

Over the last decade, the CSL has become synonymous with lavish spending on foreign players and coaches, such as Brazilian forward Hulk and former Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez.

However, the spending spree has left clubs mired in debt. Xinhua reported that the average annual expenditure for CSL clubs was about 1.1 billion yuan (about $170 million) in the 2018 season, with the majority of teams recording losses. That has prompted the introduction of spending curbs and salary caps in recent seasons.

However, attempts to turn clubs into profit have been undone by the pandemic, with the league forced to adopt shorter tournament-style seasons played behind closed doors, hitting revenue streams from ticketing and merchandise sales.

Just before the 2021 season kicked off, the Chinese Football Association announced that six clubs, including 2020 CSL champion Jiangsu FC, had been disqualified from the professional leagues due to financial difficulties.

Since then, the outlook hasn't improved. In November, Chinese media reported that among the 16 CSL teams, 11 were experiencing difficulties paying players' wages, including CSL giant Guangzhou FC, which is funded by the struggling Evergrande Group.

The club has been hit by a talent exodus, including Brazilian-born naturalized star Luo Guofu (aka Aloisio), and Italian coach Fabio Cannavaro, with first-team veteran Zheng Zhi appointed player-coach in a move widely seen as a cost-cutting measure.

"The last time that Shandong won the CSL title was in 2010, which was the dawn of the big-spending days of the Chinese Super League. Among the 16 clubs in the league 10 years ago, only nine still exist in the CSL," read a commentary by Chinanews.com.

"After 10 years, it seems that Chinese professional soccer has returned to its starting point. With investment poured into the sector, the clubs failed to become more professional or profitable.

"And the negative consequences have been proven by the poor performance of the national team and the lack of a new generation of talent in the professional system.

"With the end of the spending spree and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese soccer is now experiencing a new downturn. It took Chinese soccer almost a decade to recover from its last downturn with the help of outside investment. But now what should we do?"