Chinese world cup dreams spur better soccer

• Source: Global Times
• [23:28 July 11 2010]
• Comments

By Tian Wei

I received a twitter message from a foreign journalist friend who went to South Africa to cover the World Cup. He wanted to know why when most of the sports reporters went home with their home teams, most of the Chinese journalists stayed in South Af­rica, despite the Chinese team never having even made it to the tournament.

I told him there were a bil­lion Chinese back home thirsty for any information about the World Cup! China has caught soccer fever for over a month, since the finals began. Fans even adjusted their schedules to accommodate matches that fell at 2:30 am Beijing time.

And that is nothing new for the country. Four years ago, during the 2006 World Cup, there were so many in China tuning in to the matches in Germany that CCTV, the coun­try’s official World Cup broad­caster, made 300 million yuan ($43.93 million) from the cov­erage. There was no Chinese team there neither.

What a fever and what an impressive crowd!

With such an unselfish love for the game, why hasn’t Chi­na hosted a World Cup? Why doesn’t it bid to host one in the near future?

For China, when it comes to the necessary infrastructure for hosting the World Cup, there is almost no problem. China now has many World Cup-sized sta­diums.

The money needed as a host should not be a problem nei­ther. China paid big bucks for the Beijing Olympic Games and the Shanghai World Expo, but the nation is rich with cash due to its ever-rising economic sta­tus and the continuous growth of its international trade.

And by hosting the Olympic Games in Beijing and surviv­ing the international financial crisis, China has managed to build an increasingly positive reputation about itself and its potential.

FIFA doesn’t officially rotate the World Cup from one conti­nent to another, but does tend to spread it around the globe. But so far, only one World Cup has been held in Asia, in 2002.

So it seems the question is not mostly about whether oth­ers would give China the op­portunity, but rather whether China wants to play host again.

At the end of the South Afri­can World Cup, some in South Africa believed that “the value of the change in perceptions of this country and the continent will have been priceless.”

Two years ago, when the Bei­jing Olympic Games came to an end, that was also the mes­sage being expressed. It seems that the job has already been done to change the stereotype and misperceptions others had about China for centuries.

If that is the case, does China still need another mega event like the World Cup? Af­ter the world has recognized that you are a rising power and you have the capabilities to host mega events, what should be the ultimate goal?

Given the huge crowds cheering for the World Cup at home in China, the answer is that the next goal, and arguably the ultimate goal, should be to have people in China really en­joy the event.

But can China host the World Cup, given the parlous state of Chinese soccer? Can the country even endure the challenges related to that amid the fierce competition during the bidding against others? Af­ter all, China stands at 84th in the FIFA world rankings. Many people are worried that China would be the first host team to be eliminated in the group stages of the World Cup finals.

But others have already shown China the courage need­ed. Before the 1994 World Cup was held in the US, soccer was hardly known in the country, but the event inspired the creation of the US profes­sional league.

And the US is now busy putting in a bid for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Big figures, such as Bill Clinton and Michael Bloomberg, are ar­dent supporters and campaign­ers for the cause.

Yes, there have been nu­merous occasions in which the harsh realities of soccer in China have broken the hearts of the sport’s innocent fans.

But with such a widespread love for soccer in the country, can China afford to put the sport aside?

What better choice does the country have than keeping it under tremendous public at­tention and try to cure the ail­ments along the way?

China should bid to host the World Cup, not for face, money, or compliments, but the sheer joy of the Chinese people.

Tian Wei is the host of "Dialogue" on CCTV's English Channel, and the main anchor of CCTV's special coverage of important domestic and international events. Previously, Tian worked in Washington D.C. as a correspondent, and covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan