Chinese media, fans call for rule changes to allow clubs to recruit foreign players like Vietnam’s Nguyen Dinh Bac

In the AFC Champions League Elite, all three Chinese representatives, Chengdu Rongcheng, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Port, were eliminated in the group stage, finishing in the bottom three of their East Asian group.

In the AFC Champions League Two, Beijing Guoan also exited the tournament after the group stage.

As a result, China suffered a significant drop in the AFC’s league coefficient rankings, leading to frustration among fans.

“China only earned 7,383 points this season, ranking 9th in East Asia, only slightly ahead of Cambodia. Even Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have more points than us, and Thailand almost doubles. The Chinese Super League should quickly change its rules to attract foreign players,” journalist Lao Qiu commented on Sina Sports.

“It’s time to expand the league’s scope to attract more talented players like this one for Chinese football,” Sina Sports quoted Lao Qiu, accompanied by a photo of Vietnam’s rising star Nguyen Dinh Bac.

This opinion has received widespread support from the Chinese public. Major news outlets such as 163 and Swamp have also published articles debating the issue and calling for the Chinese Super League (CSL) to increase its permitted number of foreign players.

This season, the CSL allows a maximum of five foreign players per club. This is a rather modest quota compared to neighboring and rival leagues. Japan, a country with a highly structured domestic football system, limits its foreign player quota to eight, while Saudi Arabia allows up to 10.

The AFC no longer sets limits on foreign players in continental competitions, allowing many clubs to field star-studded lineups with foreign players in the Champions League.

This creates a severe disadvantage for Chinese clubs, who are currently focused on rebuilding their domestic training systems. For instance, the current top team in the CSL, Chengdu Rongcheng, utilized a maximum of only five foreign players in the AFC Champions League.

According to Lao Qiu, one immediate solution for Chinese football clubs is to reintroduce and expand slots specifically for “foreign players from the same region,” targeting East Asia and Asia as a whole. In the past, the CSL allowed teams to register one additional Asian foreign player on top of the allowed slots, before completely removing the quota in 2020.

According to Sina Sportsadditional slots for Asian foreign players would allow China to recruit regional stars from footballing nations with similar cultures and skill levels, such as Vietnam.

“The truth is that very few Asian players come to play in the Chinese Super League because the foreign player limit is too strict, and clubs are forced to give those few slots to players from South America, Africa or Europe,” the newspaper commented.

Vietnam’s forward Bac drew attention from Chinese fans after his performance at the U23 Asian Cup in January, where he was named the top scorer. Bac also beat Chinese goalkeeper Li Hao to be voted the “player who caught the eye” at the tournament, and surpassed Chinese striker Xiang Yuwang to win the Favorite Knockout Stage Goal.