China cuts number of foreign footballers

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced Monday that it is reducing the number of foreign players a team can have amid the latest acquisition of stars from the English top-flight, such as Chelsea duo Oscar (Shanghai SIPG) and John Obi Mikel (Tianjin TEDA).

Teams in the top-flight Chinese Super League will be able to have only three foreigners on the pitch when the new 2017 season kicks off in March, according to the new rules posted on the official CFA web site.

Previously four non-Chinese players were allowed per team.

The CFA said in the statement that the decision would be "advantageous for the overall development of Chinese football, advantageous for the cultivatation of Chinese local footballers and advantageous for raising the level of China's national team".

The move comes to curb the "recent appearance of irrational investments and the payment of high transfer fees and salaries for domestic and foreign footballers."