BALL OUT OF PLAY

By+Bai+Shi

The 2014 FIFA World Cup re-ignited the passion of Chinese football fans of all ages when it kicked off in Brazil on June 13， despite Chinas national football team not being among the 32 taking part in the final round. Team China was knocked out during the regional qualifying stage for Asia back in 2011.

For most Chinese fans， it is simply too expensive to travel to Brazil and watch the World Cup matches live from the stands. Despite the 11-hour time difference， many still choose to view the games live on TV； in Beijing， that means watching games at midnight and later. Nevertheless， time difference has never held back for those enthusiastic Chinese football fans who prefer to cheer along with the fans in real-time.

There will be 64 matches in total during the month-long World Cup. To ensure they can watch the electrifying， impassioned bouts at midnight and beyond， many viewers have sought out various excuses to delay work the next day. Using vacation time， asking doctors for sick-leave notes， and even buying falsified doctors notes online are some of the more ex- treme methods. Perhaps even more avidly， one die-hard football aficionado quit his well-paying job to enjoy the World Cup without being disturbed by work， Xinan Evening News， a local media based in east Chinas Anhui Province， reported recently.

Millions tuned in

Li Yao， 32， a farm manager in Beijing， is one such impassioned World Cup viewer. Li has adjusted his work and rest schedules to Rio time in order to more conveniently watch the grand sporting event.

“My job is flexible compared to white-collar workers and I have made a schedule for the work in advance，” Li told Beijing Review.

“During the tournament stage， there are three or four matches that take place from midnight to dawn every day in Beijing time. I watch two of them every night， take a nap in between and have a long lie in every morning， and then work in the afternoons and evenings，” Li said. As a single man， he jokes that he is free from the earful of complaints from a wife.

Li said he has loved football since his child- hood. He was a member of school team and often took part in the middle school football league in Beijing. The sport has become a part of his life.

Due to the absence of Chinas national team this year， Chinese fans are looking beyond nationality， cheering on other World Cup football teams like Brazil， Argentina， Italy， Germany and England. All have won over numerous supporters.

Li is a big fan of Italy. He recalled one evening， back in 2006， when he shocked his parents out of their slumber after cheering excitedly to celebrate Italys World Cup win. It is more enjoyable to watch the games live with other fans around the world， Li said.

“My work and sleep schedules have been turned upside down. I feel exhausted after watching these midnight games. Ill take a good rest after the games are over and readjust to Beijing time，” Li said.

Like the countrys football fans， the media is also captivated by the World Cup. Hundreds of Chinese reporters have been sent to Brazil to cover the event， Xinhua News Agency reported.

China Central Television （CCTV） has acquired exclusive rights to broadcast this years World Cup on the Chinese mainland. The stations sports channel， CCTV-5， will be stream a total of 800 hours of live footage from all 64 matches to Chinese audiences during the 33-day event， Jiang Heping， Director of CCTV-5 sports channel， told Xinhua recently.

The station has also made full preparations： It will show live matches， video replays， interviews with the players and expert analyses every day across its many media platforms， including television， the Internet， and mobile phones.

This month， the TV station sent over 100 employees—reporters， cameramen， technicians， and more—to the various host cities in Brazil. Their assignment is to look for in-depth stories behind the scenes of the event， giving viewers a comprehensive look at Brazil， its cities， and its peoples love of “futebol.”

“Apart from the matches themselves， the training sessions of some teams will be broadcasted live by CCTV， and its the first time weve done this during a World Cup，” Jiang said.

Such hard work during the event has brought the channel exceptionally high ratings. According to statistics from AC Nielsen， a global marketing research firm， CCTVs live showing and replays of the World Cups June 13 opening match—Brazil versus Croatia—reached 1.32 percent in the ratings. This means that some 46 million people in China watched the game on TV. Furthermore， the number of those who watched the game on CNTV， the online offshoot of CCTV， reached 5 million.

Chinas World Cup dream

As the 2014 FIFA World Cup rolls on， a recurring question is asked： When will China reach the World Cup again？

The first and last time a Chinese football team qualified for the event dates back to 2002， when Japan and South Korea jointly hosted the World Cup. Thanks to Bora Milutinovic， former coach to Chinas national team， China was able to achieve standing for the first time as one of 32 teams taking part in the World Cup. Chinese fans hailed Milutinovic as a “magic coach.” But Chinas luck ran out during the event itself， and it was knocked out without winning a single match or scoring a goal.

After that， the Chinese team seemed to fall back into its vicious cycle， trying and failing to reach the World Cup again and again after 2002. Recently， Chinas national team even set a number of record “worsts.” For example， Chinas FIFA world ranking dropped to 109 in March 2013， while its ranking in Asia simultaneously slid down to 13. Later in 2013， in a friendly match that consisted largely of young players， China was defeated 1-5 by Thailand. This loss resulted in one of the more humiliating final scores in the history of Chinese football. It led， too， to the sacking of Spaniard José Antonio Camacho， then head coach of the countrys national team.

Many attributed the teams defeat to mistakes made by Camacho， its sixth foreign coach in just a few years. Camacho had been fiercely criticized by Chinese fans since 2011， when he failed to lead China to the 2014 World Cup. Foreign head coaches often bear the weight of an entire countrys anticipation， and expectations are not light. However， no foreign coach—save for Milutinovic—has achieved widely regarded success with Chinas national football team.

On February 26， Frenchman Alain Perrin was appointed head coach of Chinas national football team. Perrins mission， for now， is to lead China to the 2015 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup hosted by Australia.

Some sports insiders have opined that the teams players themselves should be held responsible for their poor performances. Chinese players must learn to put forward an indomitable spirit on the football field， as the game can be demanding， both physically and psychologically.

In his latest interview with Chinese media， Milutinovic said that the key to strengthening Team China is to get more people participating in the sport， better training them， and competing more often with teams from around the world.

Scandals

“Many problems within the Chinese football sphere stemmed from the Chinese Football Association （CFA）， Chinas main governing body for football， and the Chinese Super League（CSL）， its top domestic professional league，” Yan Qiang， a senior commentator on Chinese football， told Southern Weekly， based in Guangzhou in south China.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of Chinas domestic professional league in 1994. The league failed to field a strong national team and nearly destroyed the reputation of Chinese football following a succession of scandals. Former CFA chief Xie Yalong was charged with taking over 1.36 million yuan（about $222，950） in bribes during his term in office from 2005-08. Nan Yong， Xies successor， was also accused of bribe-taking totaling 1.19 million yuan （$195，081） by the court. Finally， Xie and Nan， two big names in Chinese football， were both sentenced to 10-and-a-half years by the court in June 2012.

A number of major figures in Chinese football， including referees， national team players， and a handful of football club managers have also been imprisoned over accusations of bribe-taking and gambling on games at the same time.

“Tackling corruption will be an enduring and lasting task for Chinese football，” then-CFA chief Wei Di said in 2011， when the scandals were first exposed to the public.

Long had the CFA been criticized for its low transparency and lack of supervision. Following these scandals， the CFA has invited fans， lawyers， and journalists to monitor its games in a bid to enhance supervision of the governing association.

In addition， despite market-oriented reforms， the CSL failed to increase the competitiveness of the teams in China， said Chen Yuyu， associate professor of economics at Peking University. Chen has dedicated years to researching the Chinese football industry.

He claimed that the CFA did not create an equal-interests distribution system for the CSL； thus， clubs had to try to protect their rankings and ticket income any way they could. As a result， black market dealings before matches ran rampant in recent years.

To change the fortunes of the CSL， the CFA must carry out reforms and build a transparent and fair environment for Chinese leagues and players， said Yan， the senior sports reporter.

Youngsters take to the field

Chinese President Xi Jinping stated three wishes in regard to football back in 2011： For China to reach the World Cup， to one day host the Cup and， ultimately， to win the coveted trophy.

The nation should focus more on promoting football amongst young athletes， President Xi said in March 2014， after taking time out from his first state visit to Europe to watch the Sino-German Junior Football Friendship Match in Berlin Stadium.

Many have posited that younger players may be the key to revitalizing football in China. However， the current state of affairs does not inspire much optimism. Despite massive audiences for the World Cup， Chinas footballplaying population has long faced a huge decline. Between 1990-95， there were 650，000 registered players across China. By 2007， that number had stood at only 30，000. Similarly， in the 1990s， there were 4，300 football training schools across the country； while only 20 were still operational in 2007， National Business Daily reported.

Luckily， the number of student football players is on the rise， and in December 2012 stood at 190，000， said Liu Peng， head of General Administration of China Sports， the top government agency responsible for sports in the nation. In Lius view， China must work harder to facilitate football education in its schools and make it more accessible to children.

Gao Chao， 47， a football coach， has thrown himself into promoting the sport among children since 1996.

Gao was a football player from an early age. Eventually， he was able to quit his steady job and open the Silver Tide Football Club in collaboration with Beijing No. 18 Middle School. Most of his students are between the ages of 5 and 13.

“I love football. I hope children can improve their health and learn the spirit of teamwork from the sport，” Gao told Beijing Review， regarding his purpose for opening the club. However， during the decline of the Chinese football league， Gao also encountered a decreased interest in his club. “A few years ago， there were only a handful of children learning football in my club，” Gao said.

“China does not have an established system for the development of football players. I often worry about the future of my students. After finishing their training in my club， some of them want to become professional players. But many child athletes from working-class families cannot afford the expensive fees for receiving further training in a league club，” Gao said.

Today， parents and their children dont expect to make a career out of football. They just hope children can fall in love with the sport， Gao said.

“When more youngsters devote their talents to football， it will be possible to better develop Chinas adult leagues and build a strong national team， which will in turn help us to reach the World Cup eventually. It is like constructing a pyramid： Without a large support system at the base， we cannot reach the top，” said Gao.