As headlines were made around the world about the kind of players arriving in China – starting with Dario Conca and gradually including names like Hulk, Robinho, Alessandro Diamanti, Oscar and others – Australia was right in the thick of the action. Just two years ago, only Brazil had more foreigners playing in China.
In that season, Australia had 12 players plying their trade in the China. Paul Giannou, Matthew Spiranovic, Tim Cahill, Ryan McGowan, Trent Sainsbury, Michael Thwaite, Dario Vidosic, James Troisi, Aleksandar Jovanovic and Ersan Gulum (playing on an Australian passport) were all calling the Chinese Super League home.
Even Adam Hughes and Jonas Salley were in the second tier.
One agent told The World Game in February 2016 that Sainsbury “wouldn’t be earning too far short of $2.5 million net” for his stay at Jiangsu Suning. Truly, it was money like we’d never seen before.
But like the tulips before it and Bitcoin afterwards, the Chinese bubble would burst.
And like all bubbles, it happened faster than anyone could have anticipated.
In 2018, barely two years later, there is a sum total of zero Australian players in China.
That’s right, from having almost half of the Socceroos squad plying their trade in the world’s most populous country, we now have none.
So what happened? Why did Australian players go from being the hottest players on the market to having almost zero appeal whatsoever?
“The sharp drop in Australian players in the CSL is purely down to the 3+1 rule being suddenly abolished at the start of 2017 season,” said Cameron Wilson, editor of China’s leading English-language football website, Wild East Football.
“Before, these teams could play three foreigners plus another from an Asian confederation country. With Australia being one of the strongest nations in the AFC and Chinese clubs having financial muscle, it's no surprise Australian players were in demand before the rule change.”
These days, South Korean defender Kwon Kyung-won and Uzbekistan midfielder Odil Ahmedov are the only two Asian players in the entire league, while 38-year old Hong Kong international Festus Baise – a naturalised Nigerian – is the only registered player in the slot allocated for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwanese players.
“Foreign player recruitment in the CSL has been greatly affected by both the scrapping of the '+1' and strict rules saying clubs have to pay a 50 per cent transfer tax (for deals worth more than A$9.4 million) if they are not making a profit, which no CSL clubs do,” Wilson said.
“Whilst it's admirable that the CSL wants to ensure its teams give Chinese talent priority and foreign players are limited, the +1 rule was standard in Asia and I think it was the right balance for developing leagues like the CSL, where local talent badly needs to grow.”
Wilson also questions whether these changes – which also limit the number of foreigners on the field to three at any time – are having the desired result.
“It’s made the CSL a lower quality league as fewer foreigners on the pitch generally means poorer playing standard and that means Chinese players don't have as strong opponents to play against, and with,” he said.
“And because the Asian Champions League still uses the 3+1 rule, this means that CSL clubs are at a disadvantage on the continental stage since they aren't going to buy an Asian player who can only play in ACL games. So CSL teams face a handicap when they play other Asian clubs.”
And while Wilson believes Australian players have ”made a solid account of themselves” in China and are well regarded for their “competitive spirit, strength and fitness”, he admits it’s impossible to know if they will ever be back in favour.
“It’s difficult to see Australian players returning to the CSL in bigger numbers anytime soon. The Chinese FA is more likely to decrease foreign player limits further than relax them,” he said.
“Even an outright ban on foreign players wouldn't surprise me. But then again, the CFA have proven themselves to be unpredictable and willing to make major rule changes at short notice. So predicting trends in Chinese football remains a mugs game.”
