Fifa World Cup shows lure of Chinese Super League is long gone with just two players at Qatar 2022

Throughout much of the last decade, the Chinese Super League became notorious for luring some of the biggest names in world football as the huge transfer fees and hefty wage packets offered by the country’s deep-pocketed clubs threatened the game’s established order.

At the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, the names of China’s leading clubs were attached to well-known players from the most storied teams. The national team might not have been present – missing out on the finals yet again – but Chinese spending power ensured the country had a prominent presence on the game’s greatest stage.

Four years on all that has changed. Where the likes of Argentina’s Javier Mascherano, Brazilian Renato Augusto and John Obi Mikel from Nigeria represented Hebei China Fortune, Beijing Guoan and Tianjin Teda respectively, only two Chinese Super League players have made the trip to Qatar.

It is a reflection of the league’s diminished status since the start of the pandemic that none of the leading nations feature a player from a Chinese Super League club. Just as the world has moved on from Covid-19, so football has left China’s footballing Eldorado in its rear view mirror.

Beijing’s zero-Covid approach to the pandemic has at least been partly to blame. With the league’s schedule constantly disrupted over the last three seasons and difficulties travelling in and out of China, plus an increased number of clubs experiencing crippling financial problems, the Chinese Super League is no longer as attractive as before.

Among those to have departed is Australian midfielder Aaron Mooy, who had traded life in the Premier League with Brighton and Hove Albion for a stint at Shanghai Port, the 2018 Chinese champions.