President Xi Jinping, an avid football fan, is recruiting thousands of preschools across the country to realize China’s ambitious “football dream” of dominating the sport by 2050.
Key points:
- China has signed several high-profile international players and coaches in recent years
- The Chinese men’s team currently ranks 71st out of 211 nations in the FIFA world rankings.
- The women’s team ranks 16th out of 158 and finished second in the 1999 World Cup.
Beijing plans to create 3,000 kindergartens this year to encourage the next generation of Chinese footballers, with the first group of teachers undergoing training last week.
According to Chinese state media Xinhua, 400 teachers and head teachers from around 30 provinces trained with English Football Association staff in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian.
Mr Xi has made no secret of his football dreams, having openly expressed his desire for China to once again qualify for the World Cup, host the event and win the coveted title by 2050.
He has also made football development a national priority.
China plans to create tens of thousands of specialized football schools by 2025. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu, file)
A government plan released in 2016 set the goal of increasing the number of soccer players in China to 50 million within a decade, including 30 million students.
China has also invested heavily in the sport in recent years, strengthening its domestic talent pool by recruiting a number of high-profile international players and coaches.
Earlier this year, London midfielder Nicholas Yennaris – known in China as Li Ke – became the first naturalized player to play for the Chinese national team.
But today, China’s men’s team ranks 71st out of 211 nations on the FIFA world rankings and has only qualified for the World Cup final once, in 2002. By comparison, Australia’s men’s team is ranked 46th.
The Chinese women’s team is faring much better, with a current ranking of 16th out of 158 and a second place finish at the 1999 World Cup.
The men’s team has “always sucked”
Xi Jinping is a self-proclaimed football fan. (Reuters: David Moir, file)
While Mr Xi’s alleged affinity for football has been cited as a reason why China is emphasizing the sport, Jonathan Sullivan, who co-founded the China Football Observatory at the University of Nottingham’s Asian Research Institute, believes this is a false lead.
In fact, he noted in the Observatory e-book “The dream of Chinese football” that Beijing had been trying to reform Chinese football since the early 1950s.
“Perhaps that was a factor in the decision to go into sport, but there are many useful strategic objectives that make sense, (so) I think Xi’s supposed affinity for football is largely irrelevant,” Dr Sullivan told the ABC.
“What is not unimportant is the fact that the reforms have Xi’s imprimatur and therefore everyone must take them seriously – and since Xi will probably be around (for more than) two terms, the football program should carry weight.”
He added that sustained investment in physical infrastructure, academies and coaching training would “take years to bear visible fruit, such as the men’s national team qualifying for the World Cup on a regular basis.”
“The national championship had been mired in corruption and indifference for years, the men’s national team had always been lousy,”
he said.
“Chinese football was an afterthought for the vast majority of Chinese (even if they stayed up late to watch or bet on Premier League or World Cup matches).
“There was no real infrastructure or culture to fall back on, so the fact that they got this far is promising.
“There’s a very long way to go, but they have a 50-year plan and substantial financial and political capital, so I wouldn’t bet against significant progress toward their goals.”
China could host the World Cup as early as 2030
Xi Jinping wants China to win the FIFA World Cup by 2050. (Reuters: Dylan Martinez)
Although China’s World Cup victory in the near future still seems like a chance, Beijing could bid for the tournament as early as 2030 if FIFA decides to change the rules to allow countries from the same continent to bid after skipping a World Cup cycle.
Under current rules, China would not be able to apply to host the game in 2034, because Qatar, part of the Asian Football Confederation, will host the 2022 World Cup..
But even though China has not participated in recent World Cup tournaments, Chinese sponsors had a strong presence at last year’s match in Moscow.
Last year, many of the World Cup sponsors came from China. (Reuters: Maxim Shemetov)
Chinese conglomerate Wanda’s branding was plastered all over Luzhniki Stadium, while Chinese companies – including smartphone developer Vivi and refrigerator maker Hisense – also dominated official sponsorship.
Dr Sullivan said China’s ambitions to become a leader in sport ranged from tackling childhood obesity and public health to creating a lucrative sport, leisure and entertainment industry.
It is seen as having the potential to “contribute to the recalibration of the economy by boosting national pride, raising awareness of Chinese brands globally and, more nebulously, as a vehicle for ‘soft power'”, he said.
He cited as an example the Chinese-built stadium used to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
“Great football powers like Brazil and England have made significant soft power gains through their style of football, competitive success and championships,”
he said.
“It’s easy to dismiss the possibility of China reaching that kind of level, but the CSL (Chinese Super League) has television contracts in almost a hundred countries.
“Its teams have enjoyed success in the Asian Champions League and Chinese brands sponsor half of the Premier League clubs and tour China every summer.”
China has made significant investments to promote football domestically. (ABC News: Bill Birtles)
Back in China, Wang Dengfeng, head of the Department of Physical Education, Health and Arts of the Ministry of Education, also highlighted the significant investment to promote football nationally.
He was quoted by local media as saying that football was central to the physical education of some 20 million students in more than 24,000 primary and secondary schools.
China also plans to create 30,000 additional primary and secondary schools specializing in football by 2025.
Mr Wang said kindergarten was a key stage in developing children’s sports interests, habits and skills – and the 3,000 selected preschools would hold game-based football training to cultivate students’ interest in the sport.
