CSL will return on July 25, but details are still missing

The Chinese Super League (CSL) will start on July 25 in two locations, Suzhou and Dalian, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) confirmed. 

The Chinese top-flight football league's 2020 campaign was slated to kick off on February 22, 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first phase of the season will be played in tournament style among 16 teams behind closed doors in the two locations. Further plans have yet to be unveiled.

Headquarter of the Chinese Football Association in Beijing. /VCG

Though no further detail like fixtures as well as how games will be played was revealed in the CFA announcement, thanks to the follow-up reports of multiple press outlets, at least a vague picture of how the CSL will happen can be drawn.

First, the division of the 16 teams will go as the following, according to Tencent Sports:

Division A in Dalian: Guangzhou Evergrande, Jiangsu Suning, Shandong Luneng Taishan, Henan Jianye, Dalian Professional, Guangzhou R&F, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua and Shenzhen.

Division B in Suzhou: Shanghai SIPG, Beijing Sinobo Guoan, Wuhan Zall, Tianjin TEDA, Chongqing Dangdai Lifan, Hebei China Fortune, Qingdao Huanghai and Shijiazhuang Ever Bright.

Players of the Chinese men's national football team train in Shanghai, May 25, 2020. /VCG

According to Xinhua, the CFA will discuss the specific game plan with the teams in Shanghai on July 6. Xinhua's source said that each team will play 14 games in the first state and finish all of them in late September. Then the season will be suspended for the Chinese national team to prepare and attend the last four games of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in October and November.

After the national team finish their games, the CSL is supposed to start again but so far not much has been revealed about what will happen then. One theory is that eight teams will be picked, four for championship competition and the other four for relegation contest, to decided two of most important results of the season.

The CFA did not announce any change to the league's foreign player policy and thus the best choice for the teams is to prepare according to the original one which allows them to send four foreign players to field in one game.

Paulinho of Guangzhou Evergrande in the CSL game against Shanghai SIPG in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, November 23, 2019. /VCG

At the moment, Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai SIPG, Dalian Pro, Shijiazhuang Ever Bright and Shenzhen all had all of their foreign members back. Henan Jianye, Guangzhou R&F and Shanghai Greenland Shenhua are waiting for the last one to return.

By contrast, the rest eight teams all had their difficulties to deal with. For example, Tianjin TEDA not only missed two foreign players, their German manager Uli Stielike has not arrived in China yet. Chongqing Dangdai Lifan are even more unfortunate, as none of the team's five foreign players has come back to China yet.

All games in the first stage will happen behind closed doors.