FIFA move shows nation’s sports sector opening up to international events

By Ma Jingjing Source:Global Times Published: 2019/10/21 21:55:56

The FIFA work group on an inspection tour in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province on October 12. Photo: IC



FIFA will reportedly award China the right to host the expanded Club World Cup for 2021, which industry analysts said shows the Chinese market is attractive to holding sports events.

After a quarterly meeting of the governing council of FIFA, the association will announce the decision on Friday in Shanghai, The New York Times reported. The expanded Club World Cup is a 24-team tournament that will have some of the biggest club teams in the world, according to the report.

On China's Twitter-like microblog service Sina Weibo, internet users showed their support for FIFA's move. A user named "Jack Gudao Ziran" commented, "Please let football fill the market gap left by the NBA. Come on! Chinese [football] teams."

"Some Chinese basketball fans may temporarily abandon the NBA but once political tension is relieved, they may resume watching NBA matches again," said He Wenyi, executive director of Peking University's China Institute for Sports Value.

But it's still lucrative for the international governing body of football to bring the event to China, as China has about 300 million football fans, making it the largest football market in the world, he told the Global Times.

The deal is expected to create huge revenue for FIFA, as it's said that China will pay $20 billion each year for the event, while Japan bid $25 billion for two consecutive years, Ji Ning, CEO of Beijing-based Vning Sports Group Co, told the Global Times on Monday.

Recently, FIFA fined Hong Kong's football association 15,000 Swiss francs ($15,100) because some fans disrespected China's national anthem before a World Cup qualifying game against Iran in September.

"China has a need for high-level sports events and the sector is opening up to international organizations and matches, but foreign organizations need to show respect for the market and its consumers," said Zhang Qing, CEO of Beijing Key-Solution Sports Consulting Co.

With the aim of transforming the country into a football powerhouse by 2050, China aims to reform the development of its football industry, and it plans to build 60,000 football fields across the country by 2020.

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