Constructing an ACL Participation-Points Reward Mechanism and Fixture-Improvement Strategies for CSL Clubs in the Post-“Golden Dollar” Era: An Incentive Compatibility Perspective 
YU Tianran1,3  LING Zhichen（corresponding author）2,3

1 Nanjing Normal University Postdoctoral Research Station in Education，Jiangsu Nanjing，210023；

2 Capital University of Physical Education and Sports，Beijing，100191；

3 Huaihua University，Huaihua Hunan，418000；

Abstract：After a period characterized by massive capital injections and sky-high transfer fees—the so-called “Golden Dollar”—the Chinese Super League (CSL) is irreversibly entering a “post-Golden Dollar” defined by financial sustainability and managerial rationality. This paradigm shift is not merely a retreat of capital but a deep restructuring of the sector’s development logic. Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) implemented milestone reforms to its top-tier club competition in the 2024/2025 season, launching the far more lucrative AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE). This drastic change in the external environment stands in sharp contrast to the “capital winter” within the CSL. As of early 2025, technical-points statistics showed that the CSL had been narrowly overtaken by the Thai League in the AFC member-association ranking by 0.191 points. More worryingly, in the first round of the 2025/2026 ACLE, all three CSL representatives—Shanghai Port, Shanghai Shenhua, and Chengdu Rongcheng—were defeated, and none fielded their full first-choice line-ups. As of 1 November 2025, results for the three ACLE participants and for Beijing Guoan in the second-tier AFC competition had shown little improvement. If this situation is not corrected in time, the CSL risks further reductions in ACLE berths, creating a vicious cycle.To address this, the present study adopts “incentive compatibility” from institutional economics as its core analytical tool. Under an effective institutional arrangement, actors pursuing private interests simultaneously generate outcomes that maximize collective welfare. Applying this framework here, we explore how to design a set of mechanisms whereby CSL clubs’ “private” pursuit of strong ACLE performances aligns with the “public” objective of maintaining and improving the CSL’s position in the AFC technical-points ranking—thereby providing theoretical support for the modernization of football governance in China.

Keywords：incentive compatibility; Chinese Super League clubs in the post-“Golden Dollar” era; AFC Champions League (Elite) participation-points reward mechanism; fixture/scheduling improvement strategies

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