A new season of the China Super League (CSL) kicks off tomorrow, but problems off the field are casting a lengthy shadow over what could be the most exciting competition in recent years.

League authorities hope 2007 can be the year the CSL finally moves beyond the trauma of 'black whistles' and financial uncertainty, but many fear the CSL is a competition stuck in an unbreakable spiral of decline.

Preparations for the season, already shortened to allow preparation time for the 2008 Olympic Games, were thrown into chaos just three weeks before kick off when a merger between Shanghai United and Shanghai Shenhua was announced, cutting the league from 16 to 15 teams.

Zhu Jun, head of China's largest online game operator The9.com and owner of Shanghai United, paid an estimated 150 million yuan ($19.7 million) for a 51 percent stake in Shanghai Shenhua, last year's runners-up.

The newly merged Shanghai Shenhua will be favorites to challenge reigning champions Shandong Luneng.

"I am confident we will win the domestic league and Asian Champions League this year. I am a man who always wants the best," new Shanghai Shenhua boss Zhu Jun told Titan Sports.

The coach who must make this happen is Uruguayan Osvaldo Gimenez, who coached the Uruguayan national and Olympic team for seven years.

"We have to beat Dalian and Shandong. Now it is like we are climbing a ladder. There is no shortcut, we must walk firmly step by step," he told Titan Sports.

Shanghai Shenhua's top players include Chinese captain and central defensive stalwart Li Weifeng and teenage goalkeeping prospect Wang Dalei, who last year earned a trial with Italian giants Inter Milan, but the departure of fullback Sun Xiang to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven is a setback.

Defending champions Shandong Luneng are in no mood to see their crown go to the new Shanghai rivals, but the loss of captain and star player Zheng Zhi to English Premier League side Charlton could be problematic.

"Zheng is the best and also the most creative player in the team. It is a blow to the team," head coach Lijbisa Tumbakovic told Titan Sports.

"Shanghai, Dalian and Beijing will be strong contenders after taking chances and buying players. I think there will be some surprises in the new season."

Off the pitch, major problems remain behind the scenes, the most pressing of which is the financial vacuum created by the lack of a title sponsor.

Last season UK-based communications firm iPhox stepped in at the last minute with an eight-year sponsorship deal. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the whole deal was thought to be worth approximately $80 million.

However, after the company failed to win approval to enter the Chinese market they cut the deal to just one year, and there has been speculation that the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has not received any money.

According to sina.com, Shenzhen-based beer brewery Kingway agreed to sponsor the CSL league on Thursday, just two days before the new season opens.

Sina.com reports the Hong Kong listed state-owned enterprise promised to pay some 36 million yuan (US$4.5 million) to have its name in the title of the domestic premier league for one year.

The company is the third to sponsor the CSL, after German electronics giant Siemens and internet phone maker iPhox.

Another positive news has come with a new television agreement that will see games broadcast live nationwide on CCTV. Two years ago a financial dispute saw CCTV pull the plug on coverage, with Shanghai Media Group screening games instead. This season both broadcasters will have live matches, which should help improve sagging TV audiences.

The first half of the season runs from Saturday's curtain raiser between Wuhan and Tianjin until June 23, with the majority of games played on Sunday afternoons. The second half begins August 12 and ends November 11.

(China Daily and CRI March 2, 2007)