| AFC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded |
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| FIFA affiliation | 1931 |
| AFC affiliation | 1974 |
| EAFF affiliation | 2002 |
| Communist Party Committee Secretary | Zhang Jiasheng [zh] |
| Deputy Party Secretary (and President) | Song Kai |
| Website | www |
| Chinese Football Association | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中国足球协会 | ||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國足球協會 | ||||||||||
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TheChinese Football Association (Chinese:中国足球协会;pinyin:Zhōngguó Zúqiú Xiéhuì), abbreviated asCFA (Chinese:中国足协;pinyin:Zhōngguó Zúxié), is the governing body for association football,beach soccer andfutsal in thePeople's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes themen's andwomen's national teams and administers the country's professional leagues as well as organizing the national knockout cup competitionChinese FA Cup. As members ofEast Asian Football Federation its national teams are eligible for theEast Asian Football Championship and the country's membership inAFC allows teams to participate in that organizations club and national team competitions. China is also a member ofFIFA and is therefore eligible to play in theWorld Cup.
Founded in 1924, the Chinese Football Association became members of FIFA in 1931 and competed internationally at the1936[2] and1948[3] Olympics. Following the end ofChinese Civil War in 1949, both thePeople's Republic of China (PRC) and theRepublic of China (ROC) contended to be the sole legitimate government of "China", and claimed sovereignty over both mainland China and Taiwan.[4][5] On 14 June 1952, FIFA acknowledged that the CFA on Mainland China, not theRepublic of China Football Association (ROCFA) located on Taiwan, was the recognized authority over Chinese Football with their membership dating to 1931.[6] Taiwan was admitted as a member of FIFA in June 1954 over the objections of the CFA and the PRC government at the 29thFIFA Congress inBern.[7]
The Chinese Football Association's objection to Taiwan's membership in FIFA continued with the organization offering proposals for the island's expulsion at the next two FIFA Congresses in 1956 and 1958. Then on 8 July 1958 the CFA notified FIFA of its withdraw as a member of the federation. FIFA stipulations at the time required that once a withdraw be announced it must be confirmed three months later by registered mail. With no such confirmation received, FIFA's Executive Committee still considered ACAF a member but all inquiries to the CFA or PRC were returned stating China no longer recognized FIFA's authority. At a meeting of FIFA's Executive Committee in late October 1959, Victor Granatkin, the USSR Vice President of FIFA, reported that from his discussions with Chinese authorities, the CFA would only rescind its withdraw after the expulsion of Taiwan from the organization. The situation was resolved at FIFA's 42nd Congress when the Executive Committee's compromise proposal to allow Taiwan to remain a member of FIFA under the nameChinese Taipei Football Association and to readmit the Chinese Football Association was passed on 7 July 1980.[7]
In 1992 the CFA under the auspices of theGeneral Administration of Sport of China released plan to improve the quality of football in the nation. The plan included hiringKlaus Schlappner to coach the national team and as a technical adviser for the football federation and had the stated goals of attempting to enter the1994 World Cup, to be among the top five teams in the1995 Women's World Cup, qualify for the1996 Olympic Games, represent Asia in the1998 World Cup, to reach the quarter-finals of the2000 Olympic Games, and to be among the top four teams in the2002 World Cup. Then in 1998, the then-Minister of Sports announced a ten-year plan for Chinese football with goals to reach the World Cup finals and become one of the top sixteen teams in the world by 2002.[8]
In 2015,General Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping set an aggressive plan to make the Chinese men's national team the number one footballing nation in Asia by 2030 and the world's number one by 2050.
In 2022,Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials launched ananti-corruption probe resulting in eight footballing officials being investigated for "suspected of violations of discipline and law".[9] In August 2024, formerCCP Committee Secretary of the CFA,Du Zhaocai, pleaded guilty to accepting more than US$6.1 million in bribes.[10] On 10 September 2024, CFA banned 38 players, including former nationals,Jin Jingdao,Guo Tianyu, and five officials for life over allegations of match-fixing and other forms of corruption.[11] Other players and officials were also given shorter five years bans.[11] Nine Chinese Super League clubs were also punished with point deductions for the2026 Chinese Super League and fines. The clubs were docked between five and ten points.[12]
TheChina national football team (simplified Chinese:中国国家足球队;traditional Chinese:中國國家足球隊;pinyin:Zhōngguó guójiā zúqiú duì represents thePeople's Republic of China in internationalassociation football. Since rejoining the international football community, the team achieved theirhighest FIFA ranking of 37 in December 1998.[13]
The men's national team has won theEAFF East Asian Cup in2005[14] and2010,[15] was runner-up at theAFC Asian Cup in1984[16] and2004,[17] and made its soleFIFA World Cup appearance in2002, losing all matches without scoring a goal.[18]
TheChina women's national football team (Chinese:中国国家女子足球队;pinyin:Zhōngguó Guójiā Nǚzǐ Zúqiú Duì), represents thePeople's Republic of China in internationalassociation football. The team is colloquially referred to as "Zhōngguó Nǚzú" (Chinese:中国女足, and has been nicknamed the "Steel Roses" (Chinese:钢玫瑰).[19] The team achieved theirhighest FIFA ranking of 4 in 2003.[13]
The women's team has wonAFC Women's Asian Cup a record 9 times in1986,1989,1991,1993,1995,1997,1999,2006, and2022, and were runners-up two times in2003 and2008. They were also runners-up at the1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.[20][21]
Professional football in China is organized by the CFA and currently consists of four professional leagues organized in a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between the leagues. TheChinese Football Association Super League is the top flight of professional football in China after a rebranding of theNational Football Jia A League in 2004. Also founded in 2004, theChinese Football Association China League is the second tier of professional football. TheChinese Football Association Division Two League, founded in 1956 as the second level, the league was demoted to the third level in 1989. TheChinese Football Association Member Association Champions League makes up the fourth level of football with relegated teams playing to league run by the regional CFA member football association.
Level | League(s) / Division(s) | ||||||||||
1 | Chinese Super League | ||||||||||
| ↓ 2 clubs ↑ 2 clubs | |||||||||||
| 2 | China League One | ||||||||||
| ↓ 2 clubs ↑ 2 clubs | |||||||||||
| 3 | China League Two | ||||||||||
| ↓ 4 clubs ↑ 4 clubs | |||||||||||
| 4 | Chinese Football Association Member Association Champions League | ||||||||||
Chinese Women's Super League since 1997.
As of 2015, there are total 44 member associations directly affiliated to CFA.[22] The members are:
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| Name | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
 Zhang Jiasheng [zh] | Committee Secretary of the Communist Party | [23] |
| Song Kai | Deputy Party Secretary and President | [23][24][25] |
| Sun Wen | Vice President | [23][24][25] |
| Yuan Yongqing | Deputy Party Secretary and General Secretary | [23][24][25] |
| Yang Xu | 2nd Vice President | [23][24][25] |
| Xu Jiren | 3rd Vice President | [23][24][25] |
| n/a | Technical Director | [24][25] |
 Branko Ivanković | Team Coach (Men's) | [24][25] |
 Ante Milicic | Team Coach (Women's) | [24][25] |
| Sun Baojie | Chairperson of the Referees Committee | [24] |
| Mao Heming | Referee Coordinator | [24] |
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(in Chinese)| National teams |
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