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‘Protect national players, honour Communist Party’: Chinese FA tells clubs
- Make or break Fifa World Cup qualifiers for China begin in May with domestic media reporting another behind closed doors win
- Chinese Super League to start on April 20 with break for national team camp on May 20
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China’s focus will be the national team ahead of their delayed Fifa World Cup qualifiers, with Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan asking domestic clubs to protect Li Tie’s players and to honour the Communist Party last week.
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“Since the national team and the clubs are in the same boat, the clubs should protect the national team players,” Chen said on Thursday as the league confirmed final plans for the upcoming Chinese Super League season.
“It calls for concerted efforts from us to guide the boat through storms. If the boat is stranded, nobody will survive.”
Li Tie’s China team finished their training camp on Saturday, with domestic media reporting another behind closed doors win over club opposition.
While Li is yet to take charge in a World Cup qualifier since replacing Marcello Lippi, his team have won eight in eight over Chinese Super League and China League One sides with 29 goals scored and two conceded.
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The national team will hold another training camp in late May, before the Qatar 2022 qualifiers resume on May 30. The camp will follow the start of the 2021 Chinese Super League season on April 20.
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