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The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has made further changes to quotas governing foreign players, with the federation reinstating a berth for players from Asian nations just over a month before the 2017 campaign kicks off. In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the game's governing body in China announced one of the five berths allowed for foreign players must be given to a player from another country from within the Asian Football Confederation, a quota known as the 4+1 rule. Clubs will still only be allowed to field three foreign players in any game no matter their nationality, reversing a regulation that had until the end of last season permitted coaches to select four foreigners per match so long as one was from an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) nation. Teams must now fill that place with a Chinese under-23 player. The move is the third time the CFA has issued directives affecting clubs' squads since the transfer window opened at the start of January as spending on foreign players has skyrocketed. Chinese clubs have broken the Asian transfer record on five occasions since the start of 2016, with Oscar joining Shanghai SIPG from Chelsea for €60 million in January. The new regulations also allow clubs to register 27 Chinese players -- up from 25 last year -- and four of those must be under 23. Clubs are allowed five foreign outfield players in the squad, with clubs not allowed to sign non-Chinese goalkeepers.
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