China’s Intentions for Soccer Domination
It is no secret that China is looking to flex their economic muscles at the world. How soccer ascends to the top of the list among military, economy and a growing national debt as top government priorities is just as foreign a concept to you and I as why Americans put so much sugar in our foods to people outside of the U.S. That said, the country is currently going through a bit of a soccer revolution, even if it is a bit forced. No one spent more during their Winter Transfer Window than China has, currently over 395 million Euros, including breaking their record transfer fees during the transfer window.
In recent weeks, many articles have discussed things such as how the current influx of international stars is somehow the rise of a new soccer power, or how Major League Soccer should be on the lookout now that China might be in direct competition. However, these are simply over reactions by the soccer establishment afraid of seeing a foreign league make such a huge splash over the course of a few weeks. The truth likely lies somewhere between the lines of the rise of a soccer power and the improvement of a domestic league, or direct competition for a league like Major League Soccer or a league just seeking to make their own way in today’s sporting world.
Soccer in China
Currently ranked 93rd in the world by FIFA rankings, the China national team has never been a power in the global sport, let alone in their own region of the world. China has only appeared in one World Cup, 2002, in which they were bounced with three losses and scored no goals while allowing nine against group opponents, Brazil, Costa Rica and Turkey. Their best finish in the AFC Asian Cup was runner up in the 2004 edition when they were the hosts.
The country’s league, Chinese Super League (CSL), has only been around for 12 years, after a rebranding of the previous top league, Chinese Jia-A League, which had only been a professional league since 1994 at that point. The most successful club in China was Dalian Shide, who won eight championships between 1994 and 2005 before being acquired by a new ownership group and merging into Dalian Aerbin F.C., currently playing in the second division of Chinese Soccer, meaning the team no longer exists.
Amongst this history of futility in the sport, the past few years have given way to new hope, in the form of the current league dominators, Guangzhou Evergrande, who have won the league five years in a row and running. Guangzhou has gone on to win the AFC Champions League twice, while making it to the Club World Cup semi-finals during both appearances, including a 2–1 victory over Liga MX’s Club America.
Government Backing
One thing that the CSL has going for them that no other league in the world does, is the full backing of their soccer loving president, Xi Jinping. Sure, other countries have presidents who enjoy or follow the sport, or at least pretend to, but Xi absolutely loves the sport and was heard commenting that he would like to one day see China host and win a World Cup.
Xi went as far as assigning a panel lead by Vice Premier Liu Yandong to oversee the development of the sport in China. Improving the men’s national team and the domestic league are the long term goals for a country who has struggled to have a national identity on the world stage of soccer. On the heels of this support by the highest levels of government, a national soccer curriculum will be introduced across 20,000 schools over a span of five years that began last year to focus on youth development to feed the club teams and national team.
The government’s announcement to support the sport also spurred stock prices for companies owning club teams, for instance, “Jiangsu Sainty Corp., whose parent owns a Super League club, rose 10 percent to close at 16.49 yuan in Shanghai. Evergrande Real Estate Group increased 19 percent and China Sports Industry Group jumped 10 percent.” These steep rises in stock prices have many believing that with this newfound government backing, it will only be a matter of time before the league and teams become global cash cows. Whether the rising stock prices are a result of being inflated is a topic for economists to discuss, however, inflation of stock prices was a major factor of the 1929 Great Depression in the U.S. following an economic growth period in the 1920’s, and with China’s economic growth rate being at its lowest in a long time, investors and players accepting these large contracts should be aware of the potential pitfalls.
Importing Talent
It is a no-brainer that the reason the world has taken interest in Chinese Soccer over the past few months has been attributed directly to the players they have acquired in spectacular fashion. The CSL transfer record was smashed four times during the winter transfer window, which closed on Friday, February 26th. The recent transfer window saw China spend €395 million, over $431 Million, easily the largest amount by any country, topping England’s spending of €311 million. The out of this world spending led Australian national team star, Tim Cahill, currently playing in the CSL to state that he would not be shocked to see the first ever $100 million transfer come out of China.
Last summer, the CSL’s Guangzhou Evergrande made a record move for Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, for a reported €12 million as he joined fellow countryman, Robinho and Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. The move paid off for the CSL giants as they won the league again, won the AFC Champions League and made it all the way to the FIFA Club World Cup semifinals. The instant success may have played a part in the spending spree that saw Roma and Ivory Coast star striker Gervinho break Paulinho’s transfer record with his move to Hebei China Fortune, Chelsea and Brazilian midfielder Ramires move to Jiangsu Suning, Atletico Madrid and Colombia striker Jackson Martinez move to Guangzhou Evergrande and eventually Shaktar Donetsk and Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira to Jiangsu Suning on the recent record €50 million move.
The record moves have received all the headlines, however, there have been other players move from big European clubs as well, Fredy Guarin (Inter Milan to Shanghai Greenland Shenhua), Burak Yilmaz (Galatasaray to Beijing Guoan), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris Saint-Germain to Hebei China Fortune), Nikica Jelavic (West Ham United to Beijing Renhe) and Fredy Montero (Sporting Clube Portugal to Tianjin Teda) to name a few. The biggest move made by CSL that made American soccer fans pay attention was the transfer of Nigerian international and Seattle Sounders star Obafemi Martins to Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. Martins scored 40 goals and 23 assists in three seasons with Seattle, including being an MVP runner up in 2014 and along with teammate Clint Dempsey, made up half of an exciting scoring duo.
CSL teams have a cap of 5 international players on the team, with one of the five having to be from a country within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), while on game days, only four international players can play, with one being from AFC. This rule is in place to promote development of national players and avoid having rich teams field full international squads at the detriment of developing the country’s own players. Cahill mentions that while Chinese players are gifted with skills, the country struggles to develop goal scorers and will continue to do so as they bring in more and more international stars to score the goals.
Effect on Global soccer
The added money being pumped into the sport by China can only be a good thing for those who make a living through the sport. Players now have another international option that pays high wages that they may not find on a European club already stacked with high salaries or leagues that can’t compete when it comes to player wages. Marketing and television rights contracts will benefit companies who can secure those deals that will help market their products or televise popular stars to the most populous country in the world and perhaps beyond. While NBC, FOX or ESPN may not have rights to the CSL right now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see someone trying to fill their sports programming with a league that’s been at the forefront of the sport for the past two months.
The players won’t be the only benefactors of this newfound growth, coaches are being recruited to coach, train and set up academies for Chinese teams and youth players. Coaches like Sven Goran Eriksson and Luiz Felipe Scolari are already coaching in China, while current Chelsea boss, Guus Hiddink admitted recently that he turned down an opportunity to coach in China before taking over Chelsea mid-season. Coaches from some of the top EPL teams are heading to China to work at academies or work alongside Chinese academies on behalf of EPL teams to train the next generation of Chinese players. Other coaches and former players also see an opportunity to open their own academies in China as well, as Brazil’s Ronaldo is planning to open academies across China for kids age 6–18.
The influx of cash into the Chinese clubs now provides a new destination for international players looking for a pay day or a new challenge. The CSL still will struggle to offer the same lure as the big and historic clubs in Europe or the opportunities to live in the comforts of some of Europe’s or North America’s major cities, which may minimize the player pool the CSL could go after. There is also the perception that the CSL and MLS may be in direct competition for players going forward, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The two leagues covet and attract different types of players, CSL will continue to make a splash by attracting players with big salaries playing in Europe in their prime, while MLS will continue to compete for players looking for their opportunities or to show they still have something to offer.
The 2016 CSL season kicks off on March 4 and runs through the end of October, the upcoming season will perhaps be the most important season of the league’s 16 year existence. The eyes of the soccer world will be watching from afar with curiosity to see what the CSL is really all about. If I had to put down a bet on it, I am sure they are banking on the fact that soccer fans like you and I will now start paying attention to the CSL.
