Poised to Strike

Through trials and tribulations, Chinese soccer gets pumped for a revival By Yin Pumin

Poised to Strike

Through trials and tribulations, Chinese soccer gets pumped for a revival By Yin Pumin

On December 19, 2011, the longawaited Chinese soccer corruption trials began in Tieling, in northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

China’s professional leagues have been plagued with allegations of gambling, matchfixing and crooked refereeing for years. In March 2009, a high-profile committee was set up by 12 ministry-level bodies to clean up corruption in Chinese soccer.

Since then, many officials, referees and former players have been arrested and tried,including three former vice presidents of the Chinese Football Association (CFA).

The scandals, coupled with the national teams’ poor performance, have made soccer a source of disappointment even for diehard fans.

Last November, the Chinese men’s team failed for the third consecutive time to qualify for the World Cup finals since its first and only appearance at the 2002 World Cup finals, which were co-hosted by Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The Chinese men’s team also did not qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games and, for the fi rst time, China’s s once worldbeating women’s team did not even qualify for the World Cup tournaments.

“Chinese soccer is having its hardest time now, but I believe that with the support of our fans and the backing of other ministries and commissions, we de fi nitely have hope,” said Cai Zhenhua, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Sport, in an interview with national broadcaster CCTV on December 10 last year.

Cai, according to Chinese media, is a leading hopeful for the CFA presidency at the organization’s next congress, which has been inde fi nitely postponed due to the scandals.

“I’m full of confidence and determination to make Chinese people satisfied with the sport and to make the Chinese national teams regular participants in Asian and world tournaments in the coming years,”Cai said.

A slow revival

Last July, the CFA and Dalian Wanda Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Beijing.

Wanda is a Chinese company whose assets are estimated at 140 billion yuan ($20.5 billion)through its ventures in commercial properties,luxury hotels, chain stores and tourism. It promised to inject 500 million yuan ($73.21 million)over three years to boost Chinese soccer, including sponsoring the Chinese Super League (CSL)until 2013 to the tune of 65 million yuan ($9.52 million) each season.

Wanda’s involvement is widely regarded as a new start for Chinese soccer as its chairman, Wang Jianlin, spent a successful tenure in Chinese soccer from 1994 to 1998, when he built the Dalian Wanda club into a powerhouse in the country’s top-tier league.

With Wanda’s financial support, the CFA recruited former Spanish national coachJose Antonio Camacho as head coach of the Chinese men’s team in mid-August last year.The 56-year-old Spaniard signed a three-year deal with the CFA. He and his assistants are paid more than 40 million yuan ($5.86 million) a year by Wanda.

YUE YUEWEI

TUMOR REMOVED: Zhang Jianqiang, former Director of the Chinese Football Association’s Referee Committee, steps out of court after being tried on charges of corruption in Tieling,northeast China’s Liaoning Province, on December 19, 2011

Although Camacho eventually failed to inspire the Chinese team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup fi nals, he still retained his job.

“Appointing Camacho is just part of our long-term revival plan,” said Yu Hongchen,Vice President of the CFA. “We hope he can help us to fi nd a suitable style.”

Wanda also hopes to reduce referees’temptation to take bribes from soccer clubs by raising their salaries.

In China, almost all the soccer referees and linesmen only work part-time. Referees are paid 1,800 yuan ($263.54) per match if they are summoned to officiate, while the linesmen get 1,200 yuan ($175.7). Out of its own pocket, Wanda plans to pay referees a total of 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) per year.

On the CSL clubs’ side, serious money has been pumped into the game. According to CFA statistics, 16 CSL clubs spent more than 2 billion yuan ($292.84 million) in 2011.

After taking over the Guangzhou Evergrande club in late 2010, Xu Jiayin, CEO of the Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd.,one of the 10 largest real estate developers in China in terms of annual sales, has spent more than 300 million yuan ($43.92 million)upgrading the club.

In mid-July 2011, Guangzhou Evergrande smashed the national transfer record and signed Argentine Dario Conca, who was named the best player of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in 2009 and 2010, for 10 million yuan ($1.46 million).Conca was offered a salary of 7 million yuan($1.02 million) a year.

Previously, the club splashed out 7.5 million yuan ($1.1 million) on Brazilian forwards Cleo and Muriqui.

The club was richly rewarded when they swept the CSL title by 15 points in 2011, just two years after their relegation for match- fi xing.

In order to defend the title, Guangzhou Evergrande has announced it would spend more than 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) in the 2012 season.

The club also announced it will partner with Spanish giant Real Madrid to open the world’s biggest soccer school in south China’s Guangdong Province this year in an effort to develop the country’s talent.

A major rival of Guangzhou Evergrande in the CSL, the Shanghai Shenhua club confi rmed on December 12, 2011, the signing of Nicolas Anelka from English Premier League powerhouse Chelsea.

The 32-year-old French striker, by far the highest-profile foreign footballer yet to sign for a Chinese club, will of fi cially join the club in January 2012 on a two-year contract, after the winter transfer window opens, Shenhua said in a statement at the end of 2011.

It is reported that Anelka’s salary in Shenhua will exceed $300,000 a week.

More encouragingly, the CFA has reached a broadcasting agreement with CCTV-IMG, a joint venture of CCTV and IMG Worldwide.

CCTV ceased its coverage of the CSL in 2010 because of corruption scandals and the generally poor image of soccer in China. The CFA’s deal with CCTV-IMG means the domestic league will again be televised nationwide.

LIN YIGUANG

CHEN SHAOJIN

(Left) BRAVEHEART: Zhao Peng (right) with the Henan Jianye club scrambles for the ball during a match against Tianjin TEDA in the Chinese Super Leaque on July 14,2011

(Above) SOCCER BUDS:Children play soccer at the Haigeng Soccer Base in Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, on May 15,2009

DEFEAT AGAIN: Chinese players show dissapointment after losing to Iraq 0:1 in Asian World Cup qualifying on November 11, 2011

Youth power movements

Ninety young Chinese, aged 12 and 13, will join the youth teams of Spanish La Liga clubs Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Villarreal for three years, the CFA and Wanda announced on December 18, 2011.

Wanda is said to invest 120 million yuan($17.57 million) in the “Future Star” overseas program under its cooperation agreement with the CFA.

According to Wanda’s contract with the three Spanish clubs, all Chinese players will be treated the same as their Spanish teammates in terms of training, accommodation,medical treatment and insurance.

The first 30 players selected will head to Spain before the opening of the 2012-13 season,and they will play at least 25 matches each year.

“Spanish soccer has long tradition and glorious achievements due to a combination of many factors, and their world-class youth system is very crucial,” said Wei Di, Vice President of the CFA.

In addition the CFA has already sent dozens of youngsters to Brazil and Portugal, and also sealed agreements with the French club Le Mans and the English Premier League’s Liverpool club.

A similar effort once bene fi ted Chinese soccer in 1993 when the CFA sent a men’s youth team to Brazil. That five-year training plan helped nurture several outstanding players.

However, the CFA soon abandoned the plan. In recent years, the association’s ignorance has led to a shameful situation to Chinese soccer. According to the CFA, China had more than 650,000 players under the age of 18 registered in the early 1990s. That number plummeted to 7,000 at the end of 2010. In comparison, Japan has 500,000.

“The training system for Chinese teenage players has slipped into a state of paralysis over the past few years and we are beginning to pay for the mistakes now,” Wei admitted.

According to Wei, the most pressing task for the CFA is to rebuild China’s youth soccer development system, but the overseas programs also helped attract more children to the sport.

“It’s hard to say how many good players we will get through the programs, and what achievements they will make,” Wei said. “What I expect is that the players going abroad will immerse themselves in that environment and grow up smoothly. Meanwhile, the programs should also attract more children to play soccer.”

Instead of resting hopes on Chinese soccer returning to the top fl ight of Asia in fi ve years,Wei said he hoped to build up the foundation of China’s youth soccer development system in fi ve years and have more kids in the sport.

Wanda has planned to establish three national youth leagues.

Wanda Chairman Wang said that the number of young footballers in China should reach as high as 800,000 in three years if the plan succeeds.