Chinese football has been beset by match fixing scandals and poor infrastructure for the development of home grown players. However, in November Guagzhou Evengrade became the first Chinese team to win the Asian Champions League by beating FC Seoul.
Previously known as Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, the team was acquired in 2010 by the Evergrande Real Estate Group. Since then it has won the Chinese Super League three times.
Chinese football has been beset by match fixing scandals and poor infrastructure for the development of home grown players. However, in November Guagzhou Evengrade became the first Chinese team to win the Asian Champions League by beating FC Seoul.
Previously known as Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, the team was acquired in 2010 by the Evergrande Real Estate Group. Since then it has won the Chinese Super League three times.
Evergrande Real Estate, headed by Communist Party billionaire member Xu Jiayin (no contradiction there), paid $15m for the club. A revolutionary slogan (‘only socialism can save China’) has been reworked on the internet to celebrate the team’s success: ‘only real estate can save China.’
Whether the team’s success will give a wider boost to football in China remains to be seen. However, as part of prime minister David Cameron’s recent visit to China the Premier League agreed to support a coaching programme that tries to reach 1.2 million Chinese students by 2016.