The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in China, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The league was established in 2004 by the rebranding of the former top division, Chinese Jia-A League.
Initially contested by 12 teams in its inaugural year, the league has since expanded, with 18 teams competing in the 2022 season. A total of 35 teams have competed in the CSL since its inception, with 8 of them winning the title: Guangzhou (eight), Shandong Taishan (four), Shenzhen, Dalian Shide, Changchun Yatai, Beijing Guoan, Shanghai Port, and Jiangsu (all one title). The current Super League champions are Shandong Taishan, who won the 2021 edition.
The Chinese Super League is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in China, with an average attendance of 24,107 for league matches in the 2018 season. This was the twelfth-highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world and the sixth-highest of any professional association football league in the world, behind Bundesliga, Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Liga MX.
The League is now running under the authorization of the Chinese Football Association, The CSL Company, which is currently the commercial branch of the League, is a corporation in which the CFA and all of the member clubs act as shareholders. It is planned that the CFA will ultimately transfer their shares of The CSL Company to the clubs and professional union which consists of CSL clubs will be established as the League's management entity.
This page also has a version in other languages : Китайская Суперлига (russian)