Continue reading Breaking down Chinese football’s latest brainwaves
It clearly takes a lot to tempt Italian coaching legend Marcello Lippi out of retirement for one last job, but fortunately for him there are some very deep pockets in China.
While Lippi will be officially announced as the new coach of China’s national soccer team on Friday, reports have revealed that he and his team – of whom former Everton star Li Tie will be a part – will collect 20 million euros annually over an initial two-year term.
Given China’s precarious state in the final round of AFC qualifying – bottom of Group A after four games – it’s less like a final throw of the dice than a refusal to accept that the die has already been cast.
In the video below, China Sports Insider’s Mark Dreyer discusses the Lippi hiring on CCTV News, with Yan Qiang, Tian Wei and Simon Pusey: Continue reading Lippi cashes in on China’s Mission Impossible
Continue reading China set for underdog role in World Cup qualifying
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…
Continue reading 10 sporting questions for the Year of the Monkey
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.
Continue reading Astonomical CSL broadcast deal stuns China’s sports industry
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:
There’s a particular official within Chinese soccer circles who has developed a habit of starting each press conference or meeting with the words “I don’t know anything about football, but…” The intent is clear: if (when) this all goes south (again), it’s not my fault.
The state’s control of Chinese football is a large reason for its poor performance over the years: what is needed is a long-term plan, but Chinese officialdom rewards short-term thinking.
Having a man in charge of the country who loves the game would appear to be a positive, but this week’s Sports Talk column looks at how Chinese President Xi Jinping’s love of soccer may not actually be such a good thing for the sport after all…
Continue reading Is Xi Jinping’s love of soccer a double-edged sword?
今年年初，中国国家主席习近平频频出现在媒体视野之中，其与往届不同的亲民路线吸引了不少民众的眼球。当然在中国足球的建设方面，因为习主席的关注而发生了一些改变。
For all the back-slapping about the CSL’s new title sponsor – a four-year deal with Ping An Insurance worth 150 million per year – in reality it’s just the latest in a long list of short-sighted moves by Chinese football authorities.
Travelling Chinese soccer fans had better start saving up for a busy 2015.
Days after accepting an invitation to play in the Copa America in Chile in June next year (subject to confirmation from the AFC), China will start 2015 in Australia playing in the Asian Cup after qualifying on Wednesday night.
But, as usual, China did it the hard way.
Continue reading China sneaks into Asian Cup through back door
