Why nine teams in Chinese Super League have started new season with minus points

More than half of the teams competing in this season's Chinese Super League (CSL) started the 2026 campaign on minus points.

The new CSL season kicked off under unusual circumstances on Friday, as nine clubs started with points deductions, including defending champions Shanghai Port and 2025 runners-up Shanghai Shenhua.

Back in January, China banned 73 people from working in football for life and deducted points from 13 clubs, including nine from the Chinese Super League, following an investigation into match-fixing, gambling, and corruption in the football industry.

A statement from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said the penalties were intended to "uphold industry discipline, purify the football environment, and maintain fair competition."

"The point deductions and financial penalties imposed on clubs are based on the amount, nature, seriousness and social impact of the improper transactions in which each club was involved," they added.

A quick look at the league table before Friday's season opener between Chengdu Rongcheng and Shenzhen Peng City showed two teams had been hit with a 10-point deduction – Shanghai Shenhua and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger.

Qingdao Hainiu, meanwhile, had been docked seven points ahead of their defeat against Yunnan Yukun on Saturday.

Shandong Taishan and Henan sat above Qingdao on minus six points, while four teams – Zhejiang, Wuhan Three Towns, Shanghai Port and Beijing Guoan – began their campaigns on negative five.

As well as the above, former Everton midfielder Li Tie was among the 73 people who were banned from working in football for life.

Last year, the former coach of China's national team confessed to fixing matches, accepting bribes, and offering bribes to get the top coaching job.

He also pleaded guilty in March to taking over $16 million in bribes, with these happening from 2015, when he was an assistant coach at Hebei China Fortune, until 2021, when he quit as the national team coach.

In a statement, Lie Tie said: “I’m very sorry. I should have kept my head to the ground and followed the right path. There were certain things that, at the time, were common practices in football.

“By gaining ‘success’ through such improper means, it actually made me more and more impatient and eager for quick results.

“In order to achieve good performance, I resorted to influencing referees, bribing opposing players and coaches, sometimes through clubs dealing with other clubs."

He added: “This behaviour becomes a habit, and eventually, there is even a slight dependence on these practices.”