China

Alex Teixeira scored and put on a stellar performance to earn Jiangsu Suning their first-ever Chinese Super League title with a 2-1 win over defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande in their championship playoff second leg on Thursday.

Brazilian winger Teixeira was instrumental in Eder Martins’ opening goal before scoring his side’s second as Jiangsu saw off the eight-time champions, who were reduced to 10 men in the first half, with a second-leg victory after the teams had played out a goalless draw on Sunday.

Ten-man Jiangsu Suning saw off former champions Shanghai SIPG 2-1 after extra time in their Chinese Super League playoff semifinal on Monday to set up a title decider with defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande next week.

Luo Jing’s stunning long-range strike two minutes into the second period of extra time earned Cosmin Olaroiu’s side victory on the night and a 3-2 aggregate win to take Jiangsu into the showpiece against Guangzhou over two legs on Nov. 8 and 12.

The Premier League has cancelled its contract with Chinese broadcasters PPLive Sports International after just one season, the league said in a statement on Thursday.

The broadcasters, part of retail group Suning, paid around $700 million for three years of English Premier League (EPL) streaming rights from the 2019-20 season.

Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba has called on footballers to stand up for Uighur Muslims and condemn China's treatment of the minority group regardless of the financial consequences.

U.N. experts estimate than more than one million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims have been detained against their will for several years in camps in the far western region of Xinjiang.

China denies mistreatment of the group, saying the camps holding many Uighurs provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

All Chinese Super League (CSL) players have tested negative for COVID-19 as the season prepares to kick off on Saturday after a five-month delay from its scheduled start, state news agency Xinhua reported.

A total of 1,870 individuals from the tournament's two hubs — Suzhou near Shanghai and Dalian in the northeast of China — have undergone medical checks, with none of them testing positive for the disease, the report said.

Chinese Super League (CSL) team Tianjin Tianhai, which once employed World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro as coach and signed Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato, has declared bankruptcy and folded, the club announced on Tuesday. 

What is set to become the world’s biggest football stadium broke ground on Thursday, with Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande beginning construction on a venue that is expected to be completed in 2022. 

The incredible-looking stadium will have 100,000 seats, which would pass Barcelona’s Camp Nou and equal Iran’s Azadi Stadium as the largest soccer-specific stadium.

Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been discharged from a Chinese hospital after recovering from the coronavirus. Fellaini now plays in the Chinese Super League for Shandong Luneng and had tested positive three weeks before being discharged.