Chinese football clubs could face relegation for contract fraud

BEIJING -- Any Chinese football club will be relegated if found to have signed fraudulent contracts, according to guidelines issued by the governing body of the country's professional leagues.

The Chinese Professional Football League (CFL) on Wednesday released a set of policy documents outlining new financial regulations, entry requirements, club transfer rules and promotion replacement procedures for the professional leagues.

The financial rules set limits on total annual expenditure and player salaries across the three tiers, including caps for both domestic and overseas players. Clubs in the top-flight Chinese Super League (CSL) are capped at 600 million yuan ($84.9 million) in annual pre-tax spending, with domestic players' top annual pre-tax salaries limited to five million yuan and foreign players' to three million euros ($3.5 million).

Clubs whose total spending or player salaries exceed the limits will be docked points. More seriously, any club found signing "dual contracts" or issuing undeclared payments will have its results annulled and be relegated the following year, with the players involved facing a 24-month suspension.

The requirement for CSL clubs to field women's teams has been removed, but they are required to field at least five youth teams, with four for second-tier China League One and three for third-tier China League Two.

On club ownership transfers, both parties must be free of overdue debts within the industry. Each club can complete only one major equity transfer per season.

Only the two relegated CSL teams, along with the third- and fourth-placed sides from China League One, are eligible to fill possible vacancies in the CSL.