As we all know, the Chinese Football Association is very likely to increase the number of foreign players in the Chinese Super League in the 2024 season, and it is expected that for the first time in history, the Chinese Super League team will be allowed to use five foreign players at the same time. In fact, the call for "increasing the number of foreign aid quotas" has existed in Chinese football for many years, and it is not a recent phenomenon. Recently, Akhmedov, a former famous star of the Chinese Super League and a meritorious player of Shanghai Port, confirmed in an interview with the Uzbek "Setanta News" that as early as a few years ago, Shanghai Port had asked the Football Association to relax the restrictions on foreign aid in the Chinese Super League.
Akhmedov joined Shanghai Port in early 2017 and went on to help SIPG win a Chinese Super League title. Coincidentally, in the year Akhmedov landed in the Chinese Super League, the Chinese Football Association suddenly announced that it would reduce the number of foreign players in the Chinese Super League team to 3 at the same time. Because the Football Association did not investigate the opinions of the Super League teams in advance, and there was no preparation period for the new policy, many teams that had completed the recruitment work did not have time to adjust, resulting in each team having a foreign aid being "idle", which was the situation of the Chinese Super League that year.
That policy came very suddenly, completely unexpectedly. Akhmedov said, "At that time, SIPG's head coach Villas-Boas told us that one of these foreign players had to be prepared to not play. For this reason, SIPG has negotiated with the Chinese Football Association, arguing many times, asking for the lifting of foreign aid restrictions, but in the end it has not helped. ”
It should be said that Shanghai Port dared to argue with the Football Association on the issue of foreign aid that year, and this courage is commendable. After all, the reason why the Football Association suddenly announced the reduction of foreign aid quotas and dared to risk the world's condemnation is well known, and many teams are also silent because of concerns about "arms can't twist their thighs", and even took the initiative to express their support for the Football Association, only a few clubs such as SIPG dared to confront the Football Association on this issue.