January 19, 2020
It is now named after the Shanghai International Port group
Big money signings and investments in storied European clubs, and the backing of
a president who is an avid soccer fan, things should be looking up for millions
of Chinese supporting the "beautiful ga Big money signings and investments in
storied European clubs, and the backing of a president who is an avid soccer
fan, things should be looking up for millions of Chinese supporting the
"beautiful gameâ€.Not so, say some long-time football enthusiasts like Bian
Minming, who fear the game is being taken away from them.Chinese soccer’s
new-found cash also means a deluge of heavy-handed corporate sponsorships, and
Bian and others say that hampers Beijing’s aim of nurturing a grass-roots base
for the sport and homegrown talent.All footballing nations have struggled to
balance the interests of commercial sponsors with those of hardcore fans, but in
China, encouraged by President Xi Jinping to become a soccer superpower,
investors hold all the cards.
All 16 clubs in China’s top league have been forced
to incorporate the names of new owners or sponsors in their team names —
constant changes that irritate fans. Others clubs been forced to move home,
sometimes more than once."The football association needs to learn,†said Bian,
who protested moves to rebrand Shanghai Shenhua, the club he follows. "The
league shouldn’t allow clubs to keep changing names, because only then will they
be able to attract more fans.â€The Chinese football association did not respond
to a request for comment.China is currently hosting some of Europe’s biggest
clubs, who flock to China to tap a millions strong pool of fans and some
deep-pocketed investors.Manchester United had been due to take on Manchester
city, now part Chinese owned, in a pre-season match later on Monday at Beijing’s
Bird’s Nest stadium — their first derby outside England, though the game has
been cancelled due to weather concerns and the state of China wholesale instant
electric water heater tap the pitch. The build-up to that match, in the
middle of a busy Chinese league season, had overshadowed the clash between
Shanghai Shenhua and city rivals Shanghai SIPG.
Buying foreign talent may
increase interest, China spent more in the winter transfer window than the
entire English Premier League, but as with the Gulf states, sports industry
veterans warn it will do little to boost the home-grown talent that China needs
if it is to achieve Xi’s ambition of one day winning the World Cup.China
currently ranks 81st in the world, behind St Kitts and Nevis, whose population
of 55,000 would fit into Shanghai SIPG’s stadium."China’s top-down approach to
everything does not fit football at all,†said Cameron Wilson, who runs Wild
East Football, a news website devoted to Chinese soccer."You need a solid and
long-standing football culture to generate a supply of people who have grown up
watching, playing and most importantly, loving football.â€Last year, China drew
up a far-reaching reform plan aimed at reinvigorating the domestic game, which
it said was "lagging in all respectsâ€.High on its agenda was creating
"hundred-year clubs†rooted in local communities and nurturing a genuine
grass-roots sporting culture.
To achieve this, it said it would curtail the
power of rich investors to relocate or rebrand teams on a whim. But for now,
money speaks loudest.Even as it called for a bottom-up sporting culture, China
also demanded the establishment of "competitive brands†and set a target of
swelling the sports industry to 3 trillion yuan ($450 billion), six times the
estimated value of the existing global sports market — by 2020.Of course,
without sponsorship, China’s clubs would have no chance of importing
international stars such as former Arsenal and Roma striker Gervinho or
Senegal’s Demba Ba. Such banner signings have fuelled lucrative TV deals — but
not yet homegrown success."There are differences in culture, in the national
personality and tradition,†said Waley Ho, founder of Reds in Shanghai, a
Manchester United supporters group. "It will still need time.â€Fans say the
removal of sponsors’ names from club crests would go a long way.Shanghai SIPG,
formed in 2005 and explicitly modelled on Manchester United, founded in 1878,
has already undergone two relocations and two name changes.
It is now named
after the Shanghai International Port group, a state backer with the resources
to pay a Chinese record of more than 50 million euros ($55.15 million) to sign
Brazilian international Hulk from Zenit St Petersburg.Bian and other Shanghai
Shenhua fans protested in 2014 after their new owners, the Greenland Group,
announced plans to change the club’s name and put the group’s logo on the club
crest. The club did not respond to requests for comment.Despite a compromise,
which saw the club rebranded as Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, fans speaking after
last Sunday’s derby against Shanghai SIPG said they still hope the owners’ name
can be removed even if they can see an upside."Without them, we wouldn’t have
Demba Ba,†shrugged Bian.
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