NBA Hall of Famer Yao Ming has been named as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association League (Beijing) Sports Co. Ltd (CBA company).
Yao’s new position will give him more authority in carrying out CBA’s new reforms. Yao was also elected as the CBA president in February and vice chairman of the CBA company in November 2016.
Under Yao’s management, the CBA has transferred the league’s business development and operations rights to the CBA company.
Meanwhile, the CBA recently issued a five-year reform plan in June to promote the league. According to the strategy, the CBA will gradually extend the number of league matches from 38 to 56 in the 2020-2021 season. It has also increased the number of playoff teams to 10 for next season and 12 the following season. In addition for the 2017-2018 season, there will be CBA games everyday except Monday rather than the 3-day week scheduled at present.
Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick