Chinese Super League: CFA rules naturalised players can’t represent new teams on the eve of new season start

Naturalised players will be ineligible to start in the Chinese Super League when the season kicks off this weekend, according to reports in China on the eve of the start of the new campaign on Friday.

The Beijing Youth Daily and goalchina.net each quoted sources saying the Chinese Football Association (CFA) informed clubs on Thursday that naturalised players could not play for their new clubs at this stage – at least for the opening two rounds of the league season.

As a result, Beijing Sinobo Guoan, who had already arrived Wuhan with their two newly signed naturalised players, Nico Yennaris and John Hou Saeter, for their league opener against Zall when the announcement was made, will be seriously affected, as will Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, who secured Alexander N’Doumbou, a Gabon international who has a Chinese mother.

Yennaris, 25, was born in London to a Chinese mother and is a product of the Arsenal youth academy while Norwegian Saeter, who already made his Chinese debut with Guoan in the Super Cup last month, is rated one of the best young talents from his country. The 20-year-old midfielder, who played for Norwegian top division club Stabaek, also has a Chinese mother.

His mother always wanted her son to return to play football in the mainland and represent China at international level one day.

Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao signed Tyias Browning, who was born in Liverpool and has a Chinese grandfather. But the 24-year-old former Everton player has not registered as a naturalised player but as a foreign player.