Chinese soccer needs ideas about professionalism: China Daily editorial

A ranking official of the General Administration of Sport of China has just been elected a FIFA Council member.

Which he believes is of great significance, both to upgrading the country's say in international soccer affairs and to the development of soccer as a sport in China.

"We will be able to more directly participate in decision-making at both the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA," he said. "Which will more directly help the development of Chinese soccer."

We do hope his election will truly be conducive to unleashing the perennial potential of Chinese soccer, and conducive to the sport's administrators in this country by familiarizing them with the kind of international perspective they lack and introducing the right international resources Chinese soccer needs.

Few sports have received as much government attention and inputs as soccer has over the past years since this sport is popular with a very large audience. That explains why governments of all levels have racked their brains, and invested heavily — from opening soccer classes for preschool children to introducing world-class coaches.

Yet, the development of Chinese soccer is not as good as we expect, especially the men's. Indeed, the Chinese men's soccer team's poor performance in international competitions has disappointed soccer fans nationwide, who have long hoped that the national team could do well in international competitions.

It is not that the players are not doing their best on the pitch. We can see how sad and frustrated the players are when they have been defeated in international competitions. And very experienced coaches have been hired to coach them, but to no avail.

It is obvious that it is not the matter of money and neither is it the matter of how many soccer schools we have established for the training of children, although providing enough funds is imperative for the sport's development.

But what the country's national football association and those in charge of the management of the sport need to understand is how soccer should be managed as a professional sport and how its professional leagues should be run both as an industry and as a pool for cultivating excellent players.

Too obsessed with the idea that putting a lot of money will one day cultivate a soccer team of talent players will not only lead to players being spoiled but also likely to lead the sport astray and encourage corruption in the sport.

A perspective about soccer needs to be introduced to cultivate professionalism among players and managers as well, who will be taught to have enough respect for the sport they are engaged in and for the fans as well.

That may be what Chinese official's election as FIFA council member is expected to do for the development of China's soccer.