In this Dec 1, 2019 photo, Guangzhou Evergrande's Paulinho (right) fights for the ball with Shanghai Shenhua's Peng Xinli during their Chinese Super League (CSL) football match in Guangzhou in China's southern Guangdong province. (PHOTO / STR / AFP)

BEIJING - The format of the second phase of the COVID-19-delayed Chinese Super League (CSL) 2020 campaign is still under consideration, with no program having been confirmed, a top Chinese football official has revealed.

The new CSL season, originally scheduled to kick off on Feb 22, will start its first phase on July 25

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has hammered out the plan for the competition's first phase, according to which the 16-team competition will be split into two groups to play a tournament-style league behind closed doors.

The new CSL season, originally scheduled to kick off on February 22, will start its first phase on July 25, with eight teams to be based in the northeastern city of Dalian and the other eight in Suzhou near Shanghai.

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Liu Yi, Secretary General of the CFA, said they had taken a painstaking and cautious approach to working out the program for the first phase, and the format for the next phase could not be drawn up for the time being.

"Now we cannot decide on the program for the second phase, as there are too many changing factors we need to take into account, such as international and domestic anti-epidemic measures, and the adjustments FIFA and AFC could make to the international fixtures relevant to China," he said.

"We need to observe the development of the these factors in order to draw up the program," he added.