Long-time Shanghai resident and Chinese football expert Cameron Wilson is now on Day 23 of his lockdown on the Pudong side of the city. Given what’s happened there over the past few weeks, we felt it was important to get his views on both topics – the lockdown and the state of Chinese football. And, as a reader of China Sports Insider, here’s why YOU should care: although much of the world is likely disinterested about China’s current outbreak through a combination of COVID fatigue and/or the distraction of other news closer to home, how China handles this outbreak could define the global sports industry for years to come.

If China can walk this back from the cliff, with a short-term plan to keep the virus contained, a medium-term plan to get the elderly vaccinated and a longer-term plan to finally re-open its borders, there are enough green shoots of recovery to think that China’s sports industry could again become a major player. But if things in Shanghai keep going south, the border could remain closed indefinitely, continuing to cripple what’s left of China’s post-Olympics sports industry – and the ramifications in other sectors could be far, far larger. Full show below: