China’s Football Ambitions Are Feasible: Expert

Carlos Tevez, center, attends a training session with team members of Shanghai Shenhua in Shanghai on Jan. 21. (Reuters Photo via Jakarta Globe)

Jakarta. With China’s ambition to eventually dominate world football, its recent acquisitions of top international players and large investment on grassroots level, the country may succeed in achieving its vision at the right time, says Simon Chadwick, a professor in sports enterprise at Britain’s Salford University.

Chadwick said China may fulfil its ambition in two ways – by winning the FIFA World Cup and by producing footballers that will enable it to achieve the former.

“I think both are perfectly feasible for a country like China to achieve,” Chadwick told the Jakarta Globe in an email on Monday (30/01).

“On the latter, China is already committed to creating 20,000 new football pitches by 2020, and 50,000 by 2025. At the same time, they want between 30 million and 50 million people playing football by 2025. On the former, China wants to win the World Cup by 2050, which I think with the right development and strategy, is a modest target,” he added.

With this vision in mind, China has spent almost $650 million on football transfers alone, which is rather small compared to its gross domestic product of $11 trillion.

However, Chadwick said he raised his eyebrows when learning that Argentinian Carlos Tevez will be the world’s highest-paid footballer after the 32-year-old striker joined Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua in December.

Tevez is paid $41 million a year, or equal to $80 a minute, which is a jaw-dropping salary for a footballer who has already passed peak performance.

“With players like Carlos Tevez, one has to be deeply skeptical about whether this constitutes good value for money,” said Chadwick, who has advised notable sports organizations, including the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the German Bundesliga and top English club Chelsea.

“But with other players like Hulk and Oscar, China’s spending makes more sense as these players have raised the profile of Chinese football, enhanced its skill levels and engaged new fans,” he added.

Reporting and writing by Amal Ganesha for Jakarta Globe