The facts speak for themselves: a lone World Cup appearance, a lowly FIFA world ranking of 83 (that’s two ahead of Cyprus), only three Chinese players in top flight European leagues… China’s track record with football constitutes a hefty loss of face for its fans, if not a complete national embarrassment.
To see the Chinese national team one day win the World Cup is the “ardent wish of the whole nation,” according to the state-owned Xinhua news agency. Wishful thinking, or the first step to a major shift in world football? In the Olympics remember, China went from also-ran to the top of the medals table in the space of a generation. Who’s to say football can’t be similarly improved?
In February, the State Council General Office announced plans to develop “a management system with Chinese characteristics,” an intriguing proposition that promises to completely revamp and upgrade the coaching infrastructure at grassroots levels.
According to the bold government-backed plan, by the end of this year, China will add an extra 1,000 schools to the current 5,000 elementary and middle schools where football is on the curriculum. By 2025, those schools will number 50,000. The campaign aims to get 50 million people actively watching and playing football by 2025. The eventual goal, it states, is for China’s male team to be Asia’s best and its female team to top the world rankings. Also included in that plan is the more realistic target of China hosting a World Cup.
Perhaps renewed hope was sparked by China’s unexpectedly good run in January’s Asian Cup, where they topped their group and were knocked out by eventual winners Australia. Or maybe the orders came right from the top – Xi Jinping has professed his anguish at his nation’s ineptitude and has made no secret of his dream to see China lift the World Cup. He is even reported to have said that babies should start being coached straight away. The president’s graft crackdown has extended into the national leagues and under his leadership the sport has even been included in schools’ national curriculum.
It will be some time before that new generation reaches maturity, however. In a society where many see sport as a distraction from academic studies, serious football training will need to be accepted as a worthwhile pursuit for kids. Ex-England international Ledley King has coached in Beijing as part of the Football Dream campaign, which handpicks outstanding young players to train at European academies. “The enthusiasm was there, but development is needed,” he told us, during a recent interview. “The coaching is still a long way off the West… good lads though.”
Others still doubt how effective the reforms will be, especially in cities such as Beijing, where few schools are equipped with football pitches – and ball sports are forbidden in public spaces. Sports writer Zhao Zhen went deeper still in an editorial on ifeng.com: “I think people are too rushed to applaud and cheer for the policy.” He expressed a need for reform across all sports, doubting whether football alone is transparent enough to support change. “We can’t expect too much for football, when the whole sports system is struggling in the swamp of an all-state system.”
But overall, reactions to the plans have been positive – even from outside the footballing world.
“As someone who is from the realm of basketball I must say that I am very envious of the plan,” confessed superstar sportsman, Yao Ming, in a recent press conference.
Additional reporting by Karoline Kan
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