By Nick Mackie In Chongqing, south west China

Footballers earn a precarious living in the Chinese league

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has ruled out relegating weaker teams - a belated bid to save face after another year fraught with allegations of match rigging and corruption.

"China wanted to make its league like England's", says Yin Mingshan, owner of Chongqing Lifan, named after his motorbike company.

"But it didn't do it very well!"

Game over?

That's an understatement.

The Super League was postponed one month - to a 2 April kick-off - as clubs needed more time to replace sponsors who were fed-up with dirty dealings, plummeting TV ratings and empty terraces.

Mr Yin thinks he can make Chinese football pay

And supporters are turning away in droves. In 2004, 130 million Chinese, on average, tuned in to games - down 42% on 2003. Meanwhile, average match attendances dropped 38%.

The CFA even lost its own $10m main sponsor, Siemens, which terminated its agreement with the Super League in January.

Having faced a November revolt with leading sides walking off the pitch, the CFA will also surrender up to 80% of the Super League's TV rights revenues - $2.6m split between the 14 clubs.

In addition, the soccer association - in effect, an arm of the Communist Party - is giving teams more rights to negotiate with players and sponsors. And the CFA may relax its demands on prime stadium advertising space.

Wages of sin

"This year, we'll take two measures," explains Ma Lin, chief coach of Chongqing Lifan.

"We won't introduce foreign players and second, we'll have more young players from the youth team. By going down this route, they'll have more of a chance."

Perhaps. What's certain is that Chongqing Lifan will have a much smaller wage bill. The club declined to offer details, but the local press here speculates that the costs have halved. Last season, players typically earned over $100,000.

So now, across China, the transfer market is busy - with over 600 sales so far in 2005, including 20 players who are in the national squad.

In mid-March, according to the CFA, 78% of last season's Super League players lost their jobs.

Some signed on for the lower Series A division, others even paid for a transfer. Zhou Ting is said to have given Shenzhen around $50,000 to move from Qingdao.

Money worries

Lost sponsorships have reportedly cost teams about $21m In 2004, 70% of a club's revenues came from sponsorship and advertising. The main sponsor on a team shirt could expect to pay $2m annually - while a logo on the arm cost around $200,000.

Chongqing Lifan's current stadium is less than ideal

Chongqing Lifan has managed to sign up a Sichuan winemaker which will pay $350,000 to have its name - Tian Bao Dong - emblazoned on the back of the shirts. Talks are still under way with the lift maker Otis to have its logo on the arms.

Of course, having invested over $20m in the club over the past five years, the main sponsor is Yin Mingshan. He has to balance the books at the end of the season.

This year, the team shirts will carry the logo Lifan Cars, named after his latest manufacturing venture.

Ground control

With a hefty - albeit declining - TV audience, brand recognition is still the primary reason for people getting into soccer here.

"The biggest advantage from investing in soccer is that it promotes our name," says Mr Yin.

Not all is running smoothly, however.

At a cost of $50m, the authorities here completed a 60,000 seater stadium just ahead of hosting Group D of last summer's Asia Cup. But now, Mr Yin - one of China's few non-Communist Party legislators - will not pay the $15,000 per game rent.

The locals view the stadium as a white elephant, though they may get to enjoy the occasional pop concert there.

Instead, Chongqing Lifan will play its home games at its training ground, which Mr Yin owns lock, stock and-barrel. The pitch is a bit lumpy and slow. Most spectators will face the elements - but this will save nearly $200,000.

This doesn't seem to deter the local support. The club has sold over 8,000 of the $1.15 season tickets for the 13 home games. Compare this with 2004 when the price was $4.55 and it sold just 3,000.

Clearly, getting spectators into stadiums is more important than gate receipts. Other clubs agree: International Shanghai, for example, has halved its season ticket price to $6.

Team talks

Despite the sport's problems, big international names are still buzzing around.

The most recent is a co-operation agreement between Real Madrid and Beijing Guoan - which includes a proposal to sell 60% of the club to the Spaniards for a reported $12.1m.

Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton and Arsenal have a big following among Chinese fans: state TV re-broadcasts Spanish, German and English League games.

Chongqing Lifan is hoping for some kind of co-operation with Arsenal. The Gunners' top brass visited the city late last year. The meetings were private but it is understood that both sides spoke about how to market the Arsenal brand in China - including establishing soccer schools, and perhaps even an Arsenal bar.

"There will be some co-operation in the long run," Mr Yin insists. "But during this time, because of the big gap, we need to find a way to fill it."