Why China thrives in industry but flops in football

Maxwell Adombila Akalaare Opinion Jun - 29 - 2014 , 11:02

I was once in the People's Republic of China for three weeks. Whilst there I observed that some of the challenges supporting the growth of industries in that country are the very ones truncating its football prospects.

China is home to some 1.36 billion people, according to its 2013 population census, yet finds it difficult grooming just 11 people to compete against a country like Ghana, which is home to only 25 million people, in any serious international football tournament.

Its current economic might also means that it can afford to literally splash cash on its players and the national team, The Dragon, should they prove themselves worthy of it.

But that has not been the case.

As Ghana has been struggling for years to fix its electricity challenges, China has been trying without success to raise a competent national team capable of competing in an international tournament such as the ongoing World Cup in Brazil.

China, which is currently in neck-deep competition with the United States of America (USA) for the world's premier economic spot, has featured in only the 2002 edition of the World Cup.

In that tournament, that country's national football team, which is also called The Great Wall, was saved by South Korea and Japan, the co-hosts of that year's event.

Because Japan and South Korea, China's neighbours in the East Asian continent, were the hosts, FIFA, the world's football governing body, gave four slots to the continent. Out of that, Japan and South Korea kept two and passed on the remainder to two of their neighbours, one of which was China.

Thus, China's maiden entry into the event was more of fortune than from the sweat that most national teams normally endure to earn a slot. That was vindicated by the country's shabby showing at the group stages, where its World Cup dreams were truncated albeit expectantly.

The Chinese team, which was drawn in Group C alongside Brazil, Turkey and Croatia, was knocked out of the competition at the group stages. They conceded a total of nine goals in the three matches without a single reply.

Maiden title

China's poor football showing is not limited to only the global level; it’s a reflection of what happens at the continental levels, where the country has been seen as an easy-beat by emerging football nations such as Japan and South Korea in East Asia.

Although China has been competing for the East Asian Championship, the equivalent of the African Cup of Nations in Africa, for years, it was not able until 2005 that it lifted its first continental title.

The title remains China's only international football trophy to date. Thus, the football exploits of The Dragon have been limited to the four squares of China, where commerce is booming and industries are springing up in almost every corner to manufacture goods for the populace and the export market.

So, what accounts for China's inability to raise a strong and competent football team capable of making a good impression on the international stage?

That was the question I put to 23-year-old Wang Shuo, who sacrifices part of his sleeping hours to watch some matches of the ongoing World Cup Competition in Brazil in his Beijing residence.

Shuo, although relatively young, has deep passion for football and a deeper understanding of the challenges confronting his country's football dreams.

He mentioned heightened corruption at the China Football Association (CFA) and lack of conscious effort by authorities to groom footballers for the future as the bane of the country's football exploits.

“There’s a lot of corruption at the FA, to the extent that people now focus more on their personal interest and not the team. They just use the team to advance their businesses and make money, sort of," Shuo said, grinning.

The other thing, he said, was China’s overreliance on formal education, commerce and industry, to the neglect of football grooming. That, he said, reflected in the lack of playgrounds and football academies where children could learn the rudiments of the game.

“Chinese really like football and they love to play football but the question is where are the places for them to practise? There are no playgrounds and no effort to groom and to encourage the youth," he said, using himself as an example.

Shuo said he wanted to be a footballer but the lack of a proper open field from which he could hone his talent caused him to truncate that dream and keep to his education, which has now earned him a job at the State Administration of Press and Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT).

Resentment

Shuo's feeling about his country and its posturing towards football is more of resentment and a loss of hope rather than desperation. And he is not alone. Hundreds of millions of Chinese share similar sentiments.

Twenty-seven-year-old Zhang Yi of the SAPPRFT and 31-year-old Tina Zegdejing, a trader in the Silk Market at Beijing, also blamed corruption, mismanagement and lack of direction at the CFA.

In general, although most Chinese, like Shuo, Zhang and Tina, have faith in their country, they believe it would take only a miracle for the country to recover from its current football quagmire.

"I don't foresee China doing well in football soon but if it will happen, then that will be in about 50 years’ time. By then, I would have been dead and gone or very old to enjoy football," Shuo said smiling.

Interest defies performance

China's poor performance in football notwithstanding, interest in the sport among all categories of people is high.

Television (TV) and radio programmes on football are the most patronised and competition to advertise on such programmes is high, according to officials of CCTV, the Chinese national broadcaster.

As a result, CCTV and other media houses have dedicated substantial slots to football programmes, where they analyse each game played in international tournaments, including the ongoing World Cup.

All the World Cup matches have been telecast on CCTV-5, CCTV-5+, the sports channels of CCTV, and GDTV-Sports, STV-Sports, BTV-6, among other stations.

Drinking spots, restaurants, gaming and betting centres were also draped World Cup souvenirs with their operators running promotions to entice people to watch the games on their big screens. This means that any improvement in China's football credentials would receive maximum support from the Chinese people and the business community in particular.

Lessons and recommendations

Although this writer was in China for three weeks, travelling within, to and from Beijing and Guanzhou, the capital of the Guangdong Province in Southern China, he did not see a single playground or football field. Factories, skyscrapers and residences dotted the streets and cities of the country, leaving no space for playgrounds.

As a result, the few children and youth who bothered to play did that in open spaces that doubled as pedestrian walkways. This means that although some people may be talented, they are constrained by the lack of fields on which they could practise and acquire more skills.

It is also an indication that China needs to start from the classroom if it wants to raise a world-class football team.

The Chinese Government must, therefore, invest in the construction of football academies where seasoned footballers can mentor the youth and interested people such as Shuo to live their dream in football.

Also, allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the Chinese FA are not new, since similar ones have been levelled against the Ghana FA and the football administrations in other countries.

It is, therefore, imperative for the FAs to eliminate the canker, put the interest of their nations and the sport first and work together with the respective governments to ensure that footballers are properly groomed to represent their countries.

While that happens, it is advisable that China properly balances its economic might with a sporting vim. That is because beyond badminton, which China has a firm grip on and uses to market itself to the international community, industries and businesses in the country could easily ride on football to their global consumers, should the country improve on the sports.

But as China finds ways to improve upon its football credentials, the country would have to face the reality; majority of its populace are busy finding creative ideas to set up businesses, beat competition to rake in more revenue and teach their children the rudiments of trade and industry rather than guiding them in sports.

Reversing the tide of Chinese football, therefore, requires a holistic approach that would make the game a necessary addition to the country’s current obsession with trade and industry.