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A report released by China's Football Association shows that none of the 13 teams registered for the 2006 Chinese First Division have an average age above 25. The league is getting younger. Among all teams, Shanghai Kangbo have the oldest average age at 24.96, but that figure is largely due to four former internationals Jiang Jin (38), Shen Si (33), Li Ming (31) and Chen Gang (34). While most of the clubs tried to turn in a roster of fledging youngsters, Beijing Hongdeng have the youngest team, averaging at only 22.5. Players aged between 21 and25 occupy a dominant percentage of the league at 61.4 per cent.Only 24 over-thirty players are registered in the 440-strong league. Twenty one is the most common age within the league. There are 69 players between 26 and 30, eight less than the number of players under 20. Employing younger players in China's first division, a reserve for the country's Super League, is thought be a wise way to trim operation costs and cultivate potential profits. Not only do younger players require smaller salaries.but the more youngsters you have, the bigger the chance your players will be picked up bythe national Olympic team to compete in the 2008 Beijing Games. Players in the limelight of the 2008 Olympic Games will attract a lot of attention both at home and abroad. That attention could be easily transferred into market profits. (China Daily March 29, 2006)
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