Chinese Super League: Wuhan Three Towns crowned champions after final matches cancelled over ‘health problems’
- Wuhan and Shandong Taishan were tied at the top of the table on 75 points with one game left on Saturday
- Mainland reports say opponents Tianjin Teda and Beijing Guoan withdrew from their matches because most players were out through ‘injury and health problems’
Wuhan Three Towns have been crowned 2022 Chinese Super League champions without a ball being kicked in anger, after the games involving the top two sides in the table were cancelled.
Wuhan and Shandong Taishan were tied on 75 points ahead of Saturday’s final round of matches, when they had been expected to play Tianjin Teda and Beijing Guoan, respectively.
But with Covid-19 ripping through China, neither Tianjin nor Beijing were able to raise enough players for the encounters, forcing them to forfeit, automatically giving Wuhan and Shandong 3-0 wins.
The result handed the league title to Wuhan, who had a better goal difference. It is the club’s first CSL crown since being formed nine years ago, and marks a remarkable rise for a team that was playing in the third tier of Chinese football in 2019.
“According to sources, both Beijing and Tianjin have informed the Chinese Football Association that they would withdraw from their matches on the last day,” wrote Guangzhou Daily. “Therefore Wuhan will be crowned the CSL champions without playing their last match.”
Another report from Soccer News, a football newspaper, said, said that Beijing had “only two players that are fit to play and therefore it is impossible for them to start the last match”.
“Also many Tianjin players are absent [from training] and are unlikely to play. It is almost confirmed that both teams will withdraw from their matches. Hence, Wuhan Three Towns will have a better goal difference against Shandong and lift the 2022 CSL championship”.
Wuhan though were not counting their chickens, and the club’s official social media page said the team was “doing its best to prepare for the last match of the season. To fight for the winning result, to fight for Three Towns”.
Wuhan city is in central China and is made up of three towns – Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang.
Supporters reacted quickly on the internet, with one Shanghai fan’s comment on Sina Sports earning nearly 6,000 likes.
“Congratulations to Three Towns as they are the true champions!” the fan wrote. “The Chinese Super League has been in a mess this year and the Chinese Football Association has played a large part of this.”
Another popular comment made by a Beijing fan, called the CSL “the most funniest league in the world”.
Wuhan were only promoted to the top tier this season after winning Chinese League One last year.
Set up by the Wuhan Football Association in 2013, they were first named Wuhan Shangwen before rebranding in 2019 when they were admitted to Chinese League Two to fill a gap left by teams who had withdrawn from the competition.
