Episode 11 of the China Sports Insider Podcast features:
- The latest on the Olympic ice hockey drama – the Chinese men’s team is now confirmed to be in, so what does that mean come February?
- The US announces a diplomatic boycott (read “boycott”) for the 2022 Games; we discuss what that means in practical terms.
- And with the Chinese Super League returning this weekend after a four-month break, we speak to Tariq Panja from The New York Times and Nikki Wang, formerly an adviser to the CSL with Deloitte, on the overall state of Chinese football and how things got so bad.
Click through to hear the show (full blurb and timestamps below). Please leave feedback in the comments!
On the show this week, a decision — finally — from the International Ice Hockey Federation: the Chinese men’s team will be playing in the Olympic tournament (00:56). But they’re facing the U.S. and Canada. Will the NHL All-Stars run up the score (2:13), and how are the Chinese players feeling about the prospect? Plus what’s going on with the Team China squad, which is currently playing in Russia for the Kunlun Red Star team? (4:58) Meanwhile, one NHL player has already pulled out from the Olympics over concerns about COVID-related restrictions. Will others follow? (6:21) Elsewhere, the White House announces that there won’t be an official U.S. delegation sent to the Olympics What impact, if any, will that have on the Games? (10:12)
Chinese football is in dire straits right now. But how did we get here and what comes next? Haig and Mark talked to Nikki Wang, formerly with Deloitte China as head of sports business, where she advised the Chinese Super League; and to Tariq Panja from The New York Times (13:04).
On the agenda: how Chinese soccer first got on the global football’s radar, with stories of astronomical sums of money (17:08), the 20-something Englishman who seemingly popped up in most Chinese football deals (20:18), signs of progress in Chinese soccer, and parallels to soccer around the world (24:37), global superstars playing with vastly inferior Chinese teammates (28:17), commercial ramifications of signing big names (30:42), the relationship Chinese clubs have with their fans (32:47), whether anyone is still paying attention outside of China (35:13), Tariq’s tales of coming to China during the boom years (37:56), Nikki’s views from the inside of Chinese football (42:20), and why Chinese football fans are among the most resilient in the world (47:19).
This week, I also appeared here:
- [Fortune] China’s hockey team wins right to play in Olympics—despite concerns it’s too bad to compete
If you enjoyed the podcast, please download, share or subscribe! And as always, find me on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.
