BEIJING - The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced on Monday that six clubs, including reigning Chinese Super League (CSL) champions Jiangsu FC, have been disqualified from professional leagues due to financial difficulties.

Jiangsu FC, which ceased operation in late February, will officially leave the league on Monday, with Cangzhou Mighty Lions filling in the vacancy. Another CSL side the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers eventually met the CFA's qualification requirements despite being reportedly on the brink of dissolution.

The other five disqualified clubs are Taizhou Yuanda, Inner Mongolia Zhongyou, and Beijing Renhe who competed in the second-tier China League One last year, as well as two franchises from the third-division.

"Compared to the 2020 season (when a total of 16 clubs were disqualified from professional leagues), the numbers of disbanded clubs have decreased largely this season," the CFA noted, saying that club investors' financial crisis, the change of the business environment during the pandemic and bubbles in the professional leagues are three main reasons that led to the dissolution of the six clubs.

Last December, the CFA announced the strictest ever expenditure and salary cap in all levels of professional leagues as a CSL Club may only spend a maximum total of 600 million yuan (about 91.44 millon US dollars) every year. The Chinese football governing body said on Monday that "the dissolution of six clubs" will not destabilize the foundation of the professional leagues, which will grow healthier and more sustainable under new expenditure policies.

The 2021 CSL season is scheduled to kick off on April 20 in two host cities Suzhou, in east China's Jiangsu province and Guangzhou, in southern Guangzhou province.