China to establish professional football league union, says CFA chief

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Football Association (CFA) President Song Kai said Thursday that a Chinese football professional league union, an independent organization to manage the country's professional leagues, will be established by the end of January.

"The plan of a Chinese football professional league union has already been approved, and we will try to establish the organization by the end of January," Song noted in his annual work report at the CFA general assembly.

In his report, Song revealed that China has a total of 148,700 football pitches, including 35,000 11-a-side pitches, and China now has 92,979 elite youth players, a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent.

By the end of 2024, 150 new A-license coaches, 625 new B-license coaches and 1,559 new C-license coaches had been added into CFA's coach system, which now has over 100,000 licensed coaches.