OPINION> Commentary
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OPINION> Commentary
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Realistic decision
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-06 07:47 The country's decision this week not to bid for the FIFA World Cup Finals in 2018 or 2022 is a painful, yet realistic and wise. Just like the overwhelming support in 2001 during the bid for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the opposition to hosting the soccer extravaganza was also stunning. Polls by two major Internet portals - sina and sohu - show disapproval rates among the public at 90 percent and 67 percent, respectively. Therefore, the choice made by the government and the soccer governing body - the not-too-popular Chinese Football Association (CFA) - truly reflects public opinion. This is a painful choice for the hundreds of million of Chinese soccer fans, who have shown no less mania for World Cup finals than Olympic Games in the last few decades. During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, many had to get up in the brutal early morning hours to watch the matches. They may have to endure this again if the Cup is not held on Asian soil.
For many, a World Cup in China would be a dream come true. The most populous country on earth also stands a good chance against other candidates if it bids. Yet there is something that has made most Chinese deeply disturbed about hosting such a prestigious soccer event. The scandalous sport of Chinese men's soccer has constantly been plagued by problems such as cheating, gambling and hooliganism. The best-paid yet worst-performing men's soccer players have not only broken the hearts of millions of fans with their poor skills, but also by a serious lack of sportsmanship. Men's soccer is probably the least healthy among all the sports activities in China. According to the FIFA/Coca Cola ranking released on Jan 14, the men's soccer team has declined to 104, one place after African nation Malawi. In 1998, China was ranked 37th in the world. What is equally disturbing is that the CFA, the country's soccer governing body, has still not shown any leadership in bringing the chaotic sport onto a healthy track. Unlike ping-pong, badminton or basketball, soccer at the grass-roots level is a much less popular sport than before. Children find it harder today to find a place to play soccer, even compared with their parents' generation. All these mean it would be an underserved reward for Chinese men's soccer players and its governing body to host the World Cup Finals. The last and only time the Chinese men's soccer team qualified for the World Cup Finals was in 2002 when Japan and South Korea, China's two daunting Asian soccer rivals, jointly hosted the event. Yet the Chinese team never scored at the Cup before being eliminated. Most people, including some national men's soccer players, believe that China should earn its place this time and not automatically be granted a place as the hosting nation. We don't want to lose our face at the World Cup Finals if we cannot fix our sport at the grass-roots, professional league and national team levels. (China Daily 02/06/2009 page4) |
