The China Sports Media agency is seeking to negotiate its rights deal with the Chinese Football Association for the Chinese Super League amid unease at the impact of new reforms brought in for the top division of domestic football, according to reports.

The Yutang Sports website, citing Chinese website The Paper, said a recent CFA meeting saw the disclosure of a letter from CSM saying it would seek to postpone the payment of a rights fee of CNY600m (€78.36m/$87.73m) due on July 1.

The Chinese government has this year sought to impose a number of restrictions on the CSL amid disquiet at the escalating spending of clubs in the league. A levy system on overseas transfers has been imposed this month, while the government has also sought to restrict the number of foreign players in matchday squads while encouraging greater participation for local players.

CSM is said to be concerned that such rules will affect the commercial prestige of the CSL and its attractiveness as a television product. It is now reportedly seeking to renegotiate its contract struck in September 2015.

The agency secured the league’s production and global broadcast rights over five years from 2016 to 2020, with its rights fee for the first year of the deal alone said to be more than 14 times the sum earned in 2015 from deals with state broadcaster CCTV, provincial sports channels and new media companies.