The ACL could once again have no Chinese representation in the knockout stages

Another week of Asian Champions League action has gone by and once again Chinese clubs are on the verge of not having a presence in the continents premier club competition beyond the group stages. Fates have been sealed for two clubs, while the third has the daunting task of getting a result away from home on the last week of group matches.

First, the capital club, Beijing Guoan, confirmed their elimination from the competition with a 3-2 defeat to Korean side Ulsan Hyundai. In five matches, the team has collected a mediocre two points. However, the club may not be at all concerned about progressing in the competition as winning the Chinese Super League crown and the Chinese FA Cup are the top priority.

Meanwhile, last season’s CFA Cup winners Tianjin Teda, crashed out after getting a thrashing by Australian club the Central Coast Mariners 5-1. That put them at the bottom of Group G with only three points.

As for the reigning league champions, Guangzhou Evergrande, the club that believes it is their destiny to rule Asian football, their fate has to wait until the final day as they stumbled at home to Group H rivals Jeonbuk Motors 3-1, even with a one man advantage. This is the same Jeonbuk Motors that Guangzhou whipped in matchday one 5-1 in Korea.

Frustrating. Guangzhou Evergrande's fate in the ACL will have to wait until the last match

Placed second in the group, the southerners have a rather tricky encounter with Thai side Buriram United at the Buriram Stadium in Thailand on May 15. A draw in that match, depending on the result between Jeonbuk and J League champions Kashiwa Reysol, could either be enough or eliminate Guangzhou. However, Lee Jang-Soo’s side will be looking for a convincing win after getting shocked by the Thai Premier League champions 2-1 back in March.

Watching the fortunes of Asia’s top clubs in the 45-year-old tournament, it is clear to see that South Korean, Japanese and Middle Eastern clubs have been the most dominant over the past 10 years under the current format. So, when will Chinese clubs be able to make a breakthrough?

The last time any club in China progressed deep into the Asian competition was Liaoning FC (now known as Liaoning Whowin FC) in 1990 when they won the previously named Asian Club Championship. Since that time there has not been much progress.

With new investment in clubs by some of the country’s largest companies, it could come soon. Especially with clubs in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates being able to throw out money to sign any players they want, a few clubs in China might be able to compete with them. Evergrande already showed their financial muscle by signing Paraguayan international Lucas Barrios.

If Evergrande can get through to the second round, the soon to be former Borussia Dortmund striker could be one of the reasons behind the club claiming its first continental crown. However, it is too early to say what kind of impact Barrios will have when Evergrande still need to qualify.

Playing football on two fronts is never an easy task for any club no matter if they are in Europe, South America or any continent. One of the most important things that has to be done is managing the personnel and making sure they are not burned out from playing too many matches. This is an issue that Evergrande’s manager Lee Jang-soo came to realize early on in the season.

Perhaps clubs will look at expanding their rosters even further to deal with an increased amount of football being played, thus giving their top players ample time to sit out some matches. However, some of the top clubs may not want to sacrifice their standing in the league just for glory in Asia.

A club in China will eventually lift the ACL trophy. However, it is a matter of what has to be done to get to that next step.

Photos
FXPro.ae
Goal.com

Additional Articles

Goal.com – Buriram still has a chance in the Asian Champions League, says club chairman

In the dock. Former CFA chief Xie Yalong now on trial for alleged bribe taking

The trials of former Chinese Football Association heads Xie Yalong and Nan Yong got underway in separate venues in Liaoning Province along with the trials of four former players with the now-defunct Shanghai International football club (and any other name that it had previously) for bribery.

The trials are the latest in a series of cases that have gone on this year in which former CFA officials, referees and one sports company were convicted and handed severe punishments for their crimes.

Football at the professional level has been trying to change its reputation as failures by the national team in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics have left fans in the country disappointed. China’s top authority on football seemed to be making inroads when it agreed to a multi-million yuan partnership with the Dalian Wanda Group that would see the organization use the money to invest in youth development, upgrading the league system and other football related matters.

In addition, the CFA took a big step in enhancing the professionalization of the sport by separating the football administration from league operations by establishing a council that will oversee the management of the leagues, while the CFA will continue to supervise and handle the entry of clubs.

Taking a stance against bribery and corruption in the sport is good and pushing through reform is certainly what is needed to improve the domestic game and hopefully bring more fans out to the stadiums during the Chinese Super League season. However, if the CFA and CSL want bring true professionalism into the game in China, it is vital that reforms go much further.

First, professionalism has to start within the league system itself. Since its inception in 2004, the CSL has gone through its ups and downs like any fledgling professional sports league. However, problems ranging from match-fixing and mismanagement have led to investors and sponsors from making a long-term commitment to the league.

Hopefully, the CFA’s move to allow the CSL to handle the day-to-day operations of the league will come through without any significant interference and the right people are brought in to make the league more of a corporate entity that will not only increase the level of play, it will also boost fans’ interest to head out to the stadiums. In addition, should the standard of play improve, this could lead to increased revenue, which is what investors want to see in the league.

Reform in the game has to go much further if China is to have any success at club and international levels

Another area that needs careful scrutiny is the financial health of clubs in the in each division. With a rapidly rising economy, many companies throughout the country are looking at the possibility of bringing top flight football to the cities where they are based. Companies such as the Evergrande Real Estate Group, the Renhe Commercial Holdings Company and Guangzhou R&F Properties are just a number of big companies in China that have invested heavily in football clubs.

While investment is much needed in a league that is still trying to raise its profile and change its reputation, there is a danger of too much money being spent by clubs, especially those with budgets not at the same level as wealthier clubs. This is a problem that many smaller European sides had to face as clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, AC Milan and Real Madrid started to spend an exorbitant amount of money on player transfers. This left smaller clubs to spend beyond their means in order to compete with the top clubs.

This season UEFA implemented its Financial Fair Play regulations that prevent clubs from spending more than what they have in order to bring success. The regulations should keep all the clubs in check and guarantee their existence for the long-term.

It would be in the best interest of the CSL to create their own regulations that will keep transfers and player salaries under control or else many of the clubs could see themselves follow the same fate as Shenzhen Phoenix last year when previous ownership could not pay their bills nor pay the player’s wages.

Staying on the topic of the financial health of clubs, one proposal comes to mind that is used in the German Bundesliga. Each team in the two divisions are licensed by the league based on them being financially healthy and meeting other criteria. In addition, should a club find itself in financial difficulty during the season, dock points and send a warning that if their financial house is not in order by the end of the season, the club’s license will be revoked and they will be automatically relegated to the lower divisions.

Lastly, the CSL has got to stop the movement of clubs from one city to another. Just last season the football club in Shaanxi Province was playing before large crowds in Xi’an. It was considered one of the best supported clubs in the CSL despite it not challenging for honors. However, before the 2012 season, it ended up moving to Guizhou Province before the start of the 2012 season when it was guaranteed a new stadium.

The moving of clubs is no surprise as it is a common practice among the sports leagues in the United States. However, football is a different story. A club is what represents a community. It is how people in that community identify themselves. By moving the club ownership shows a lack of commitment to that community and its supporters.

The CFA and CSL must put their foot down on this issue. Not every large market can have a plethora of football clubs and as history has proven some small markets have great places for clubs.

It would even be great if residents in a city banded together and purchased a club based on the model of the National Football League’s Green Bay Packers. In this way supporters have club that the community can rally around and not worry about a single owner who wants to move them.

Getting club football in order in China will a long, drawn-out process, but it one that needs to be done if the sport is going to eventually eliminate corruption and all the other negative aspects that hamper the game from developing. On the bright side the game does have some positive aspects such as the rivalries between some of the clubs and this will go on as long as those teams remain in their cities. This is something both organizations can build in the reform process.

Football in China has much work to do if it is to catch up with leagues in Japan and South Korea, which is trying to clean up its own corruption scandal, but it can be done if officials are truly committed to following through with the reforms that are seriously needed to strengthen it.

Photos
Yahoo! China
Goal.com

Additional Articles
Football.co.uk – China police deny torturing football association boss

China Daily – Dalian Wanda Group back to support Chinese soccer

Goal.com – Chinese FA chief Wei Di: We must stay vigilant in war against corruption

Reigning champions have been all over the media recently for rumored signings and hirings

The football club that every follower of the Chinese Super League loves to hate (at least outside of Guangzhou), Guangzhou Evergrande, has been making the rounds in the media over the past month with rumors of signings and especially the supposed hiring of a new manager to replace their current one. However, there has been no confirmation nor denial on any of the moves that have been reported on various sites.

With the defending league champions suffering an early run of indifferent form (a shock 2-0 defeat to new crosstown rivals Guangzhou R&F followed by an even more shocking 2-1 defeat to Thailand’s Buriram United in the Asian Champions League), the first rumors of a coaching change hit the internet when it was reported that former England manager and purported ladies man Sven-Göran Eriksson, who was in attendance during Evergrande’s 3-0 win over Henan Construction, was in town to possibly take over the coaching reigns. However, the club’s current coach, Lee Ja-Soo, was quick to come out to the media with a denial over a coaching change, saying that Eriksson was merely there to watch the match.

Eriksson is in need of a job, but is he on Evergrande's radar

A report from Wild East Football proves to be more credible into Eriksson’s true intentions in China as more cities throughout the country are looking to have a top flight football club.

However, it has not stopped the rumor mill from swirling as in recent days Goal.com reported that former Juventus and Italy coach Marcello Lippi came to terms with the southerners to become their new coach. The report has been shot down by both the club and Lippi, but it is still uncertain as to whether this story will die down.

Is Lee Jang-Soo about to receive his marching orders from Evergrande?

Add in the reports of certain players being linked to the club, including the signing of Borussia Dortmund’s Paraguayan international Lucas Barrios, and one is still left in the dark as to what is going on with the club.

Since the team was acquired by the Evergrande Real Estate Group in February last year, there has not been one dull moment at the Tianhe Stadium as the club has displayed it dominance on the field, while off the field they are often in the sports pages whenever there is talk of transfer targets or fining players . The club has set out an ambitious plan to become a force in club football around the world and its owner, Xu Jiayin, has layed out the cash to make this plan become a reality.

"We will be at the top of Asia in five years." Famous words from Evergrande's owner Xu Jiayin

However, with the team not topping the table at the moment and still not showing any glimpses of its dominant performances from last season, there has got to be much talk as to what management will do in the coming months to rectify this problem. If Lee does get the sack, will Evergrande follow in the steps of Chelsea FC, Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid in signing a big name coach? How can they reinforce the squad when they are not allowed to surpass the number of foreign players set by the CFA?

Whatever Evergrande’s plans are, they had better solve them as quickly as possible or else they will find themselves falling further behind the competition in the league and dumped out of the ACL.

Photos

Supersporting.net

Goal.com

Sabotage Times

Addtional Articles

• China Daily – Lee Feels The Heat
• Wild East Football – Sven-Göran Eriksson at Guangzhou match – reportedly behind Kunming CSL bid
• China Daily – Dortmund’s Barrios To Join Guangzhou Evergrande: Report
• Goal.com – I have not reached an agreement with Guangzhou Evergrande, says Lippi
• Wild East Football – Lee Jang-Soo Talks Rotation, Conca, and Pressure

HRT-Cosworth giving an opportunity to former national kart champion Ma Qing Hua

With the Formula One season well underway and the 2012 edition of the Chinese Grand Prix approaching, the sport in China received a shot in the arm when it was reported that former national kart champion Ma Qing Hua was accepted into HRT’s driver development program on Thursday.

Whether he makes it through the rigorous training remains to be seen, but the Shanghai native’s step into Formula One could be what the sport needs to raise its profile in China, if he can successfully make it on the team as a driver.

While most people are familiar with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and racing legend Michael Schumacher, there still remains no representative from the world’s most populous country in the premier racing series. The high price of tickets and the lack of a casual fan base can be added into the equation, but the lack of a driver representing the country in the race is what is preventing F-1 from progressing.

The last Chinese racer to have a shot at F-1 glory was Dutch born Ho-Pin Tung who was signed on by the Renault F-1 team in 2010 as it thrid driver.

Dutch born racer Ho-Pin Tung had a crack at F-1 previously

While HRT-Cosworth is not one of the top teams in Formula One like McClaren, Ferrari or Red Bull, and it is doubtful that they will ever win a world championship, the Spanish based side does see itself more as a launch pad for young drivers, like Ma, to pursue their dreams in making it into F-1, according to its team leader Luis Perez-Sala:

We are working so that one of the team’s signs of identity is to serve as a platform to launch young drivers, both nationally and internationally. Ma Qing Hua is one those talents in which we believe and we want to help him in his career so that he can make it to Formula One.

It will take months before there is any result known about last year’s Chinese Touring Car champion, but he has made a step in the right direction towards his dream of joining the elite on some of the finest race courses in the world.

Photos

Beyond the Redline

Ho-Pin Tung Official Website

Additional Articles

• Beyond the Red Line – Ma Qing Hua Joins HRT Formula 1 Team’s Driver Development Programme
• Yahoo (Eurosport) – Chinese driver dreams of F1 future with HRT deal
• Enter F1 – Moving the Chinese Grand Prix – Formula One’s future in China

Marbury keeps his word and delivers Beijing its first CBA title

In early 2010, when news started to circulate around the internet that two-time NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury had signed with a team in the Chinese Basketball Association many thought that would most likely be the last they would hear of the player who was highly touted going back to his high school days in New York.

Stepping onto the NBA stage after being picked fourth in the 1996 draft, it seemed that he was destined to be one of the brightest superstars in the league. Teaming up with Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett and guiding the Minnesota Timberwolves to their first ever playoff appearance showed that he belonged among the big names and his future would only get better.

However, a trade from the up and coming T-Wolves to the New Jersey Nets after one season and further moves to the Phoenix Suns, the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics made people look at the former Georgia Tech star in a different light. Many fans, basketball critics and his own cousin would deem him “selfish”. Coming into conflict with coaches and management during his time with the Knicks pretty much put the writing on the wall for his basketball career in the U.S.

Then came the move to China.

The fledgling Chinese league may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and perhaps only a few can remember any foreign players that have stayed longer than one season (former Guangdong Southern Tigers center Jason Dixon comes to mind), but it is a league that gives players the opportunity to show off their talents and hopefully land with a team in the “Association” or the Euroleague.

Brief stops with the Shanxi Brave Dragons and the Foshan Dralions ended up with the Brooklyn native signing with the Beijing Ducks in 2011, a critical signing for the the capital team after the Steve Francis fiasco from the previous year.

As a sportswriter it is always difficult to predict how a team will fare before the season starts, but for some reasons there seemed to be a good feeling about how the capital team would play during the 2011/12 season. The 13-game winning streak at the start of the season gave a strong indication as to how Marbury’s influence on the team would be crucial to a long run in the playoffs. Although Min Lulei is the head coach of the Ducks, Marbury played more of what can be termed as an associate head coach. Giving pointers and instructions to teammates on the court during games and during practice, showing confidence and a never quit attitude when the team went through losing streaks and his work ethic seemed to rub off on everyone and made the team work harder.

The first championship for the Ducks is well-deserved and although credit must go to the coaching staff, Marbury must be added into the equation when this is talked about years from now.

For all of Marbury’s exploits on the court, what the western media has not seen is what the man also known as Starbury has done off the court in China. Whether it’s visiting a sick child in the hospital, attending a Beijing Guo’an match or taking the subway to practice, Marbury has rebuilt his image and has become a hero to many sports fans in Beijing.

Many foreign import players have come and left the CBA during its existence, but no player has had as much of an impact on the league than Stephon Marbury. He has truly become the king of Beijing in the eyes of those fans in attendance at the Mastercard Center on Friday, March 31.

Hopefully Ducks fans will treasure his exploits on the court in the few years he may have left before he goes on to his ultimate dream of coaching China’s men’s national basketball team.

Photos

China Daily

Additional Articles

• New York Times – Stephon Marbury Leads Beijing Ducks To Chinese Title
• New York Times – Stephon Marbury Finding Success And Serenity In China
• China.org – Interview With Stephon Marbury
• China Daily – Marbury: I Keep Promise
• Sheridan Hoops – Marbury Wins Title, Wants To Coach Chinese National Team

The watershed came in the 3rd quarter as Li Chunjiang, Guangdong’s acclaimed head coach who, after a ref’s call not favored by his side, immediately substituted the team’s two foreign aides with Chinese players and repeatedly instructed the players to shang tui, or “sweep the leg,” to their opponents, instead of defending with their arms. “Shang tui, shang tui, only shang tui,” Li shouted to the players and asked them twice to make sure they received his message (check the video below).

Li’s newly-engineered tactic, as quietly listened by the Southern Tigers, also reached hundreds of millions of Chinese basketball fans in front of their TV and computer screens. And the Southern Tigers followed, if not in the way Li expected of them, as Zhou Peng, a national team player better known for his defending skills, sent an elbow to Stephon Marbury in the chest moments after. And Su Wei, another star player in the Guangdong side, launched a foul-mouth attack against Marbury (more on Beijing Cream here).

But none of these worked. Marbury answered Zhou and his teammates with 36 points, six rebounds and five assists and was again described by local media as the “savior of the Ducks,” leading the capital team 1-0 in the 7-game series.

The Guangdong side may be outplayed for another reason: because the Chinese Basketball Association postponed the finals for safety concerns (some would argue it was more for the harmony of the two sessions than the semi-finals), they waited for nearly half a month without a single competitive match whereas the Ducks enjoyed a great win against the Shanxi Brave Dragons only three days ago.

Another MVP performance from Stephon Marbury

Another interesting tidbit from the MasterCard Center is that the Ducks’ fans have successfully adopted chants from Gongti, or the “Workers’ Stadium,” where Beijing Guo’an, a soccer team in the capital city, plays. The chanting of  niubi and shabi has become a constant on the Ducks’ home court in the playoffs.

Photo: Sohu Sports

I’m fine with Durant, who played a great game. But it’s a bit odd as Jeremy got only a one-liner when he’s on the spotlight everywhere else in Chinese media. Usually what CCTV would do is like what the Netease did in the picture below:putting Jeremy and Yi together. But unfortunately Yi was benched the whole time.

Jeremy Lin and Yi Jianlian Met Before Their Game

I have no idea what have gotten into their minds but it looked like while other Chinese media was caught by the Linsanity all the way from New York, CCTV intentionally restricted Lin’s coverage tonight. As discussed in my article for Foreign Policy here, there’s some identity balancing work required of Jeremy if he wants to score big in China commercially. The same for CCTV and other news agencies, not commercial-wise but to be politically correct.

When a Xinhua analysis came out a few days ago which advised Jeremy to play for China, netizens made a lot of fun of the piece. To these Chinese sports fans, his nationality just doesn’t matter. It looks they’ll keep on supporting him no matter what. Jeremy’s popularity grows so fast that Taobao, the most popular e-commerce site in China, now has his counterfeit jerseys on sale all over the place.

The CCTV currently airs two NBA games a week, and avid followers resort to streaming games on the Internet when they’re not featured on TV. It just doesn’t make sense to restrict his coverage like this. What they should be doing is reaching a new broadcasting plan with the NBA and giving the fans more Knicks games.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into this.

Photo: Netease

Update: From the Economist’s Banyan blog:

Mr Lin’s Taiwanese family background seems to pose a special problem. China Central Television (CCTV), the national monopoly that broadcasts NBA games, has not joined in Linsanity. A game featuring Mr Lin a week ago, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, was broadcast on Beijing TV’s sport channel, but the broadcast included the forbidden image of the Taiwanese national flag, held proudly by fans in the stands. (The flag is typically blurred in China if it must appear in news footage). Chinese netizens noticed, and wondered if that would bring a punishment, or a tape delay. CCTV, for its part, told Netease, a Chinese internet portal, that most Knicks games couldn’t be shown due to the “time difference”, “but if time allows, games of the Knicks will definitely be broadcasted preferentially.”

Lin is taking advantage of his rare opportunity at point guard for the Knicks and is doing a good job so far

Almost any professional athlete can tell you that it is not easy to satisfy your supporters wherever you may play. That is certainly a fact for any athlete that has ever played in New York City, one of the biggest markets for professional sports in America. No matter if you are a fan of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League or any of the teams based in the northeast US State, only one thing matters and that is winning.

The National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks are also in that category. After several seasons of mediocre play and missing the playoffs, the front office decided to make some personnel changes to make them a contender once again for the NBA crown. First, in 2010, they signed former Phoenix Suns forward/center Amar’e Stoudemire to a lucrative contract. Then, in the next year, the team brings in Carmelo Anthony after completing a multi-player trade. Add in the signing of center Tyson Chandler, after helping the Dallas Mavericks win their first NBA title, as well as guard Baron Davis and you have potentially a team that can be a serious contender for the title.

However, the lockout shortened season has been a bit of an up and down time for the Knicks, as inconsistent play and a rash of injuries has them struggling to even compete for spot in the playoffs (they are currently 10-15 this season). This has put Coach Mike D’Antoni in hot water not only with fans, but the front office is even starting to wonder whether he is the right man to lead this team’s supposed renaissance.

So, what does one do when you are getting no offensive spark from your starting five and your job is on the line? You call on the guy who was signed off waivers in December last year. The guy who was so far down on the depth chart that even the water boy had more of a chance for playing time.

Trying to avoid the chop, Knicks Coach Mike D'Antoni has called on Lin to add some spark to a spurtering offense

That guy is Jeremy Lin (林書豪). The California native has taken advantage of his rare opportunity to play more and in the past two games he has been the central reason for the Knicks’ victories. Now, the undrafted guard has become an overnight sensation to fans at Madison Square Garden if his performance against the Utah Jazz is enough proof (not to mention his 25 point and seven assist performance against the New Jersey Nets two nights before).

Lin’s story is known by most basketball fans. A heralded high school basketball player in California, the 1.91 meter tall point guard was not offered a scholarship by any of the top NCAA basketball programs in his home state. So, Lin took his game to Harvard University, which gave him the chance to show how good of a player he is on the national stage.

Signed by the Golden State Warriors after going undrafted in 2010, Lin would see limited time on the court as the guard spots were occupied by Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry. However, he was a highly popular figure among the Warrior fans, as he was born and raised in the area. With the guard spots already at full strength, the Palo Alto High School graduate had to find a new team. After a short stint with the Houston Rockets, where he could have been a great addition to the team, he landed in New York and the rest, well, it is not history yet, but it sure is exciting to watch him play.

Lin’s sudden rise to the NBA spotlight should be no surprise. The guy is very talented and many coaches and officials have either complimented him or regretted not recruiting him while he was pursuing a college team (here, here and here). Lin kind of reminds you of Steve Nash. A young point guard with loads of talent, but not given the chance to show. However, an opportunity opens up and takes advantage of it in a big way.

Could Lin be te next Steve Nash of the NBA? Only time will tell

Will Jeremy Lin be the long term solution for the Knicks as they try to reach the top of the NBA mountain? At the moment it is uncertain. However, he has not only become a star who has earned the right to play day in and day out for New York, he has now become an inspiration for the young ballers out on the courts anywhere in China trying to imitate moves they see on TV.

Should this be Lin’s only season in New York, it certainly will have been a good one and one that has done more than enough for him to earn a long term contract with another NBA team in need of his skill, drive and determination.

Photos

ESPN

SteveNash.cn

Additional Articles

• Yahoo.com: Given a chance, Lin becomes New York’s newest star
• NY Daily News: In Jeremy Lin, NY Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni finally finds a point guard who can run his offense
• Yahoo.com: Suddenly, it’s Jeremy Lin fever
• USA Today: Knicks Jeremy Lin takes New York by storm
• New York Times: Jeremy Lin has burst from NBA novelty act to Knicks Star
• USA Today: Asian Americans energized in seeing Knicks’ Jeremy Lin play
• WSJ China Real Time: Oh the Lin-Sanity! China Has a New Hardcourt Hero

Photo by Tsutomu Takasu (tpower1978) used under Creative Commons 2.0

FC Barcelona, the club who plays the most beautiful football in the world, is building its success in China, and they’re approaching the market in a way that no other club has done before.

Last month, Sandro Rosell, Barça’s new president, was traveling in China with his colleagues. Unlike others, their trip was not about friendly games or cooperation with local clubs, but laying down guanxi with Chinese politicians and clenching a business deal with a giant Internet firm.

Few other club is doing what Barça’s doing, which may help them working with the Chinese government rather than merely a local club, and reaching out to Chinese fans like they owe them.

Their fierce rival, Read Madrid, is the only club who plans to provide help to a football academy soon to be launched by a local club. Among all the elites, only Liverpool FC is officially engaging the fans here on Chinese micro-blogging platform on their own, a strategy only began this July, as most clubs accounts are still managed by Chinese media and fan groups.

During their stay, Mr.Rosell met the heads of the Ministry of Education in Beijing, municipal officials in Shanghai, who are in need of their help in developing its local football structure.

If one stop could best highlight their China visit, the Barça delegation spent a night at a fundraiser hosted by China Foundation for Disabled Persons, which run under the leadership of Deng Pufang, the first son of Deng Xiaoping, the former paramount leader of China. And Liu Yandong, China’s State Councilor and the only female Politburo member, serves as an honorary director of the foundation.

Yet there’s something more than fundraising to both parties, as Ms.Liu is officially the woman behind the reshuffle of Chinese football and for several times declared her interest in building up the football structure at ground-level through education, which they may seek Barça’s assistance with their La Masia model, the club’s famed football academy.

Since Xi Jinping, China’s hair-apparent, declared his high hopes for Chinese football in 2009, Liu assumed the governing role in the State Council’s ‘football investigation and research group’ to solve the puzzle of the sport.

But football further tumbled in the country. This June, the Chinese national men’s U-23 team failed to get a ticket to the London Olympics and, as if it’s not enough, the national team was disqualified from the 2014 World Cup in October.

The situation is very likely to continue. According to the Chinese Football Association, there’s only about 3,000 registered players nationwide under the age of 19. The number of football academies has been dwindling. Liaoning province, once a football powerhouse that had 21 academies ten years ago, now has none.

“If we have to do something with China, it’s better to do with the authorities,” said Laurent Colette, Barça’s chief marketing officer, in their meeting with the heads of Ministry of Education, adding it’s possible that the clubs may open academies in China, like they did in Japan and Korea.

“I think it’s a positive message coming from the central government,” said Xia Haifeng, chairman of Inter Sports, a state-owned firm founded by the Beijing government, and the exact company who arranged Barça’s China visit. “It’s good to talk about education rather than gold medals.”

Inter Sports was founded in 2005 under the mission of “importing major International competitions to the ‘Bird’s Nest’ and ‘Water Cube’”, architectural emblems of the Beijing Olympics invested by the Beijing government.

“When you talk with Inter Sports, you talk with authorities in Beijing and Shanghai. For us it’s perfect,” said Laurent.

Barça’s revenue last year hit 460 mln euros, in which only less than one percent come from the Chinese market, despite the country holds 30 percent of its fans worldwide, according to the club’s own market research numbers.

These 30 percent are nowhere to be found on Facebook or Twitter, as the two social-networking services are still blocked by the Chinese authorities.

But fans here have their own ways to follow their football heroes. On Tencent Weibo, a popular micro-blogging platform, Lionel Messi has over 14 million followers, seven times the size of Barça’s official account on Twitter.

The club signed an agreement with Tencent, which makes available the company’s 900 millon QQ users within reach, a deal that was “very satisfied” by Didac Lee, Barça’s director of new technology, who noted that the club plans to sell smart-phone apps to its Chinese fans in the future, a move that no other club ventured.

“The Internet is the best way for us to be 24-7 in China. Summer tours make a lot of money on a few days, but it’s not the best way to make loyal supporters,” said Didac.

“It’s like working out in a gym here,” Laurent stretches his arms. “First you open your arms to expand your fan base, to be sure that you reach all the possible fans here through TV, Internet, press and so on. Then to monetize, which is to create a financial link to transfer your fans into business.”

“It’s Barça 2.0 in China now”, said Xia Haifeng, who arranged the club’s friendly game in China last year in the ‘Bird’s Nest’. “Football fans here take a lot less interest in friendlies than they did before.”

“We did that in the past and don’t like that,” said Laurent. “Summer tours should be only a part of what we do here. We’ll reach the fans by 360 degree marketing to make sure this snowballing effect cast the football followers with contact and information about us, and little by little they have more reasons to become our fans.”

“Our plan in China is not to come, take the money and run,”said Mr.Rosell to TV3, a Catalan broadcaster,. “It’s, first of all, to know what and how we can offer to them, making as many Barça supporters as possible. In the long term, our goal is to monetize from those supporters.”

Just like the way they behave in the transfer market, the Catalans are clear and patient about what they should do.

“We’re not going to get crazy about China, ”said Xavier Faus, the club’s vice president, when speaking about the broadcasting time in La Liga, as the team usually plays in the early morning around 3am in Beijing time. “We cannot, in order to gain 1m euro here, lose 5m in our own market.”

Barça plans to host its first summer camp next summer in Beijing, but they may not be able to offer remedy as the government intended for the demise of Chinese soccer.

“We’re not here to solve the Chinese problem,” confessed Laurent. “Many people told us the Chinese results are bad. I’m a French and French results are bad as well. Don’t worry, there’re cycles.”

When you walk around the Yuanshen, you quickly realize that this is Yao Ming’s house. His image adorns the walls, the banners and the advertisements, whilst his retired jersey hangs from the rafters. During home games, Yao watches from his private box up high in the arena, looking down on players and fans alike like an emperor.

Yet if Yao is the liege of Shanghainese basketball, then Liu Wei is very much the heir-aparant. The two man are childhood friends, playing in same youth team together before both found themselves called up to the Sharks at the age of seventeen in 1997. There, under the tutaledge of coach Li Qiuping, they won a CBA title together, beating the then mighty Bayi Rockets in 2002, having lost to the military side in the two previous finals.

Lifting the trophy would be Yao’s last act for the Sharks before the NBA beckoned and the giant centre would not return to the team in an official capacity until 2009 when he bought the ailing basketball club. Yao and Liu were re-united in Shanghai but with an odd twist; one man was now technically the boss of his close friend.

Though Liu also made it to America, it never worked out like it did for Yao. On trial with the Sacrimento Kings in 2004, Liu played against his old team mate in the ‘China Games’, two preseason matches between the Kings and the Houston Rockets that  got obviously high viewing figures in Asia. This was as close as the guard came to making the NBA; Liu played thirty-four minutes over three games, scoring two points and getting four rebounds. Sacrimento didn’t pick up the option and the point guard returned to carry on playing for the Sharks.

Yet inspite of not being able to make it to the NBA, Liu Wei remains a popular, well-respected figure in Chinese basketball. As well as captaining his country, he has won one gold medal with China at the FIBA championships and two at the Asian Games. Last year, he became the first player in the CBA’s history to score 6000 points, 1600 steals and 700 assists. Within China’s social media sites, he is one of its most ‘liked’ figures, and fans at the Yuanshen will still gather by the players’ tunnel before and after games to reach down to Liu for a high five or an autograph.

There have of course been controversies, most notably in 2008, when along with three other team mates, he got involved in a post game confrontation with Gabe Muoneke, then playing for the now defunct Yunnan Bulls. The American was chased and cornered by the players in front of Muoneke’s family in what the CBA referred to as ‘[an] incident [that] was abominable and serious in nature, casting a terrible influence over society and seriously harming the CBA’s brand and reputation”. The point guard had the book thrown at him, and was fined heavily and suspended for ten games.

Its testament to his popularity however, that despite the Muoneke incident and the Sharks record in recent years (they have only had two winning seasons since 2002), Liu is still an important figure to the Shanghai supporters, who fete him with the same adoration as other fanbases in other sports might regard Derek Jeter, Paolo Maldini or Mario Lemieux; one-club players who have stayed with their team through thick and thin. Their mistakes on and off the court are excused by the supporters because these players have become fused to the very identity of the club. By staying around for so long, they have shown the same passion and commitment to the team as the supporters do.

Liu’s willingness to give his all for the Sharks has been well documented, although as he gets older, it will need to be stored and used carefully. In a recent CBA game against Lioaning, with Shanghai falling behind to a high scoring offense,  Liu, who had previously hobbled off due to knee pain, dragged himself back onto the court to help with the chase. It was ultimately fruitless as Shanghai were beaten decisively and Liu may well have made the injury worse (he would leave the subsequent game against Guangdong Tigers in the first quarter and has missed every Sharks game since then) but it underlined his desire to help his team win.

Liu will be thirty-two by the end of this CBA season and depending on the state of his body, he could play for a few more years to come. In a young team with masses of raw potential, the guard might be tempted to keep on playing into his thirties as his team mates mature, although he has also suggusted an interest in coaching.

When he does call it a day, Liu’s number will almost certainly be retired and raised to the rafters along with Yao’s. The two friends then will probably end up sitting together in the owner’s box, watching the team they led to a title almost a decade ago move onto its next chapter. Yao has already secured his legacy and in what time he has left, Liu will be seeking to make his already lengthy list of achievements that little bit longer.

Picture: QQ.com