Money-Losing Chinese Soccer Clubs Hit With New Spending Limits
- Foreign signings above $6.6 million will incur national tax
- CSL teams spent more than $450 million on players in 2016
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Five days before the opening of soccer’s biggest trading window, Chinese authorities have moved to rein in the country’s unprofitable clubs by announcing an unprecedented rule that would force teams to pay double for new recruits.
The measure comes amid a spending spree by teams backed by major private and state-owned businesses that have responded to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call to create a $740 billion sports economy by 2025. Clubs that spend above 45 million yuan ($6.6 million) on foreign players -- way below the price of most such recruits -- or 20 million yuan on domestic signings will have to pay an equivalent amount into a national soccer development fund.