Money fails to buy success for China

AFP, BEIJING: China’s latest football defeat has left the country’s World Cup hopes in tatters, led the national team’s coach to fall on his sword and even prompted state media to ask if the programme should start again from scratch.
China coach Gao Hongbo announced his resignation at a press conference in Tashkent following a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan on Tuesday night, the latest in a string of humiliations, including a World Cup qualifying defeat at home to war-ravaged Syria a week ago.
China’s crisis — they have lost three of their World Cup qualifying matches and are bottom of Asian qualifying Group A — comes as huge sums of money are thrown at the game in the hope that cold hard cash can end years of underachievement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for the country to host and win a World Cup by 2050 has triggered a flood of investments by eager-to-please executives.
Enormous sums — more than 400 million euros ($440 million) this year—have been splashed on bringing in foreign players to the Chinese Super League.
And companies from the world’s second largest economy have either bought outright or taken out huge investments in clubs in Italy, England and Spain.
The massive injection of capital has done nothing to raise the standard of the national team, making both fans and even state media second-guess the country’s game plan.
“Should Chinese football start again from zero?” asked a provocatively titled op-ed on the website of the People’s Daily.
The amount of money being spent on the sport covers up fundamental weaknesses, the article said Wednesday, creating an illusion of progress when in fact it was just “marking time or going backwards”.
On Thursday, the state-owned China Daily cautioned that Chinese companies should “invest carefully in European soccer”.

Money fails to buy success for China

AFP, BEIJING: Chinas latest football defeat has left the countrys World Cup hopes in tatters, led the national teams coach to fall on his sword and even prompted state media to ask if the programme should start again from scratch. China coach Gao Hongbo announced his resignation at a press conference in Tashkent following a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan on Tuesday night, the latest in a string of humiliations, including a World Cup qualifying defeat at home to war-ravaged Syria a week ago. Chinas crisis they have lost three of their World Cup qualifying matches and are bottom of Asian qualifying Group A comes as huge sums of money are thrown at the game in the hope that cold hard cash can end years of underachievement. Chinese President Xi Jinpings call for the country to host and win a World Cup by 2050 has triggered a flood of investments by eager-to-please executives. Enormous sums more than 400 million euros ($440 million) this yearhave been splashed on bringing in foreign players to the Chinese Super League. And companies from the worlds second largest economy have either bought outright or taken out huge investments in clubs in Italy, England and Spain. The massive injection of capital has done nothing to raise the standard of the national team, making both fans and even state media second-guess the countrys game plan. Should Chinese football start again from zero? asked a provocatively titled op-ed on the website of the Peoples Daily. The amount of money being spent on the sport covers up fundamental weaknesses, the article said Wednesday, creating an illusion of progress when in fact it was just marking time or going backwards. On Thursday, the state-owned China Daily cautioned that Chinese companies should invest carefully in European soccer.