Chinese Super League start date elusive, but preseason in full swing – in hotel quarantine
- Kick-off for the 2022 season remains undecided as China battles a Covid-19 outbreak
- Shanghai Port and Shanghai Shenhua arrive in northeastern city of Dalian, one of three venues chosen to stage the fixtures, and begin three weeks of quarantine
Dalian is set to serve as one of three venues to host this season’s fixtures. The city of Meizhou, in the southern Guangdong province, will be another, with a third and final location yet to be decided.
Port, last season’s runners-up, landed in Dalian on Sunday, a day after Shenhua touched down. Both teams are serving mandatory three-week hotel quarantine periods before training can begin, with posts on Twitter showing players exercising in their rooms in an attempt to maintain their fitness.
But while teams wait for an official date, preseason movement of players has been in full swing.
Financially stricken Guangzhou FC, eight times the CSL champions, have suffered an exodus of players ahead of the new season. Their naturalised Brazilian-born striker Elkeson last month signed for Gremio back in Brazil, while defender Zhang Linpeng this month ended an 11-season stint with Guangzhou to sign for Port.
But not all is lost for the struggling club. Tyias Browning, the England-born defender who has represented the China national team since 2020, will remain with Guangzhou for the coming campaign along with star forwards Wei Shihao and Yang Liyu, under newly appointed head coach Liu Zhiyu.