The Chinese Football Association will limit the pay for male football players. The amount of money a football club spends transferring domestic and foreign players will be capped at 45 million yuan ($6.5 million) for foreigners and 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) for domestic players.　

Even if football players become successful, their careers last only a few years and they often have little or no income after retirement. Therefore, it's reasonable for them to receive a high income during their limited career. However, at present, salaries are too high with some famous players being paid an exorbitant amount for transferring from one club to another.

These high salaries are not reflected when playing international games. China's national team has qualified for the World Cup final tournament only once. The government has made multiple efforts to promote the development of the sport, including hiring foreign coaches to head team but their performance has repeatedly disappointed fans.

Football has become a commercialized sport in China; therefore salaries should be dictated by the market. In reality, salaries have been inflated by football clubs and listed companies that fund them in a bid for self-promotion.

It's necessary to restrict pay and establish an income distribution system which matches salaries with performance.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Guangming Daily on November 26)