Category Archives: Football

Column, Football

Will Premier League teams ever come back to China?

Leave a comment
Thousands of Chinese soccer fans went home very disappointed last Monday evening, following the cancellation of the much-anticipated Manchester derby, after rain the previous week had left the pitch at the Bird’s Nest stadium in an unplayable state. Coupled with less than stellar pre-season tours in previous years, it’s hard to see many top Premier League teams jumping at the chance to return to China, especially when trips to the US and elsewhere are so much more enjoyable.

The expected resumption of hostilities between Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, the new coaches of City and United respectively, had shone an unusually bright spotlight on this pre-season friendly, which, unfortunately, only served to highlight the inadequacies of the event’s preparation.

Continue reading Will Premier League teams ever come back to China? →

Football

Explained: What’s behind Chinese takeovers of football clubs

4 Comments

I spoke to Sky Sports reporter Johnny Phillips last week for a piece he did on the increasing amount of Chinese investment directed at English football clubs in recent weeks. Editors being as they are, only a few selected highlights appeared in the finished article, but we covered a lot of ground, so here is an uncut version (completed shortly before the Wolves deal – the latest of the Chinese takeovers – was announced), touching on why rumours spread so quickly, West Brom’s possible owner and his plans for world domination, Sven spouting nonsense and why Wolves fans are probably sleeping better than Villa ones at the moment.

Continue reading Explained: What’s behind Chinese takeovers of football clubs →

Column, Football

Horrific injury overshadows CSL’s latest star arrivals

Leave a comment
The CSL’s summer transfer window saw yet another record fee paid, as more international players arrived in China, but the league’s top scorer, Demba Ba, is looking at months on the sidelines after a bad leg break.

It is a measure of how much the pulling power of the Chinese Super League (CSL) has exploded over the past year that the summer transfer window, which closed last week, contained a handful of blockbuster deals, but was still considered quieter than expected.

Continue reading Horrific injury overshadows CSL’s latest star arrivals →

Column, Football

New soccer tournaments could see China gain global dominance

Leave a comment
China’s long-term soccer plan calls for the country to be a global force in the game by 2050, but if China’s latest football project comes off, it would arguably become a major footballing power long before that.  

The plan has been laid out by the Chinese government, backed, of course, by President Xi Jinping, but the latest moves have come from one of the country’s biggest companies – Wanda, whose boss just happens to be China’s richest man.

Continue reading New soccer tournaments could see China gain global dominance →

Column, Football

AC Milan’s Chinese saga nears end as rumor mill grinds on

Leave a comment
AC Milan is the latest in a long line of European football targets picked out by Chinese investors – and it won’t be the last.

On the football pitch, the Italians are known for a slow, tactical style that, while effective, can bore an opponent into submission.

Off the pitch, it may also be a similar story.

Continue reading AC Milan’s Chinese saga nears end as rumor mill grinds on →

Football

Aston Villa’s Chinese owner: Saint or Sinner?

1 Comment
Tony Xia has been hailed in some quarters as Aston Villa’s knight in shining armor, but how much is really known about the Chinese businessman?

Reading the Meet our new Owner introductory page on Aston Villa’s official website, new chairman Tony Xia ticks all the right boxes: young, presentable, well-educated, former player, long-time Villa fan and – as an employer of 35,000 people in 75 countries – presumably also fantastically rich.

But the truth, it seems, is not quite that simple. Continue reading Aston Villa’s Chinese owner: Saint or Sinner? →

Athletics, Basketball, Football, Golf, Olympics, Swimming, Tennis

10 sporting questions for the Year of the Monkey

1 Comment

After a breathless few weeks during which the entire sporting world has been talking about Chinese football (with yours truly quoted by AFP three times, FT twice, El Pais, Hicimos, Vice Sports and interviewed by CCTV, BBC and Al Jazeera among others), let’s take a look at a few stories that could be cropping up over the next 12 months…

funky-monkey-soccer

Continue reading 10 sporting questions for the Year of the Monkey →

Football

Astonomical CSL broadcast deal stuns China’s sports industry

Leave a comment

CCTV, IMG and Infront – all huge names in the sports industry – were among the suitors to buy the rights to produce and broadcast the Chinese Super League. But these three, and others, were obliterated by the bid submitted by the comparatively little known Tiao Dongli, or CSM, worth a staggering 8 billion RMB over five years.

CSL money Continue reading Astonomical CSL broadcast deal stuns China’s sports industry →

Football, Video

China Sports Insider Ep. 6 – Soccer Reforms in China

2 Comments

This is a studio discussion I did alongside the always excellent Rowan Simons, who – literally – wrote the book on this, on CCTV last week after the new soccer reforms in China were announced.

For previous episodes of China Sports Insider, please click below:

Football

China’s Unrealistic World Cup Dream

Leave a comment

Chinese President Xi Jinping can do many things, but bringing a World Cup to China won’t be one of them.

We’ve covered Xi’s love of soccer – manufactured or otherwise – several times here on China Sports Insider, but the subject is back in the news again after his recent comments on promoting the game in China. First thoughts are the moves being made do look like sensible, long-term overhauls, rather than the short-term, quick fixes that government officials have previously initiated solely to gain attention and/or promotion (see Beckham, David).

China's President Xi Jinping receives an Argentine soccer jersey with his name on it from Argentina's Vice President Amado Boudou in Buenos Aires Continue reading China’s Unrealistic World Cup Dream →