20 April – 15 August (Regular season) 12 December 2021 – 4 January 2022 (Championship and Relegation stage) 7–12 January 2022 (Promotion–relegation play-off)
The 2021 Chinese Super League, officially known as the 2021 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League (Chinese: 2021中国平安中国足球协会超级联赛) for sponsorship reasons, was the 18th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor is Ping An Insurance.[1][2]
Jiangsu were the defending champions before they ceased operation on 28 February 2021 and were disqualified by the Chinese Football Association on 29 March 2021.[3]
Changchun Yatai returns to the division after a 2-year absence. Cangzhou Mighty Lions were reprieved from relegation after finishing bottom in the previous season due to the dissolution of Jiangsu.
In December 2020, the CFA issued a policy to "neutralize" the names of all professional football clubs.[4] Club names cannot contain any term of a sponsorship or commercial nature, and non-Chinese characters cannot be used.[5][6] Most Chinese football clubs had to be renamed. There were some debates as to whether or not some long-existing club names, for example, "Shandong Taishan" and "Beijing Guoan", were acceptable. After Henan Jianye was renamed to "Luoyang Longmen", club fans protested in front of the club stadium. Some clubs, including the 2020 Chinese Super League winner Jiangsu F.C., China League One team Beijing Chengfeng and China League Two team Yancheng Luzhiying, dissolved subsequent to their renaming.[7]
The CFA imposed a salary cap on the Super League in December 2020, taking effect with the 2021 season. Each club's total player wages are capped at ¥600 million, with a separate limit of €10 million for foreign players. Individual player salaries are also capped, at ¥5 million before tax for Chinese players, and €3 million for foreign players.[23]
^1 For Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwanese players, if they are non-naturalized and were registered as professional footballers in Hong Kong's, Macau's, or Chinese Taipei's football association for the first time, they are recognized as native players. Otherwise they are recognized as foreign players.
^2 Naturalized players whose parents or grandparents were born in Mainland China, thus are regarded as local players.
During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
Source: CSL Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Positions by round
To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues. Notes:
Source: CSL Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Positions by round
To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues. (C) Champions
Source: Soccerway Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Positions by round
To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues. (D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated; (T) Qualified, but not yet for the particular phase indicated Notes:
Source: Soccerway Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Positions by round
To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
