China: far away from the World Cup - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

China imposed a 100% tax for transfers of foreign players to loss-making soccer clubs - in fact all. A desperate measure that shows China is very far away from playing, less alone winning the World Cup, as president Xi Jinping wants it, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons at Sky News.

Sky News:

China's president, Xi Jinping, a self-avowed football fan, has said his ambition is for the country to host - and ultimately win - the World Cup. 

But on current form, it would be a huge achievement just to qualify for it, with the national team currently languishing 82nd in the FIFA world rankings, below Benin and the Faroe Islands. 

Rowan Simons, who founded the Beijing grassroots network, Club Football, has been trying to build a football culture in the country for the last three decades. 

"China came to this very late," he said, "It started with a professional league, but it didn't do any of the development work that took over 100 years of building up a football culture, it still needs to do that. 

"China has to start the same way every other country did - and that's kids coming out to play, falling in love with the game, and then contributing to it by their participation throughout their lives."

More at Sky News.

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How new rules will kill soccer transfers to China - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

China has been a financial paradise for many top European soccer players. But a new rule by the China Football Association, with a 100% tax on transfers by clubs who are losing money, might kill this track, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons to Tribal Football.

Tribal Football:

Rowan Simons, a writer on Chinese football, and also Chairman of China Club Football, the country's biggest grassroots football network, explains how the rule will work. "If implemented in it's current form and based on the fact that all of the Chinese clubs lose money, then all future imports of foreign players will be subject to the 100% tax. So, in effect doubling the cost of player transfers. " 

And the number's have been huge: So say with €60m with 100% tax, that becomes €120m. 

"This means, for example, the €60m Shanghai SIPG paid Chelsea for Oscar would in fact cost them – if they were in debt – €120m with the new rule in place. 

Footballers plying their trade in Europe have flocked to the Far East in recent years – and not only in the twilight of their careers, as the aforementioned Oscar can attest. 

According to Steve Price from The Guardian, the combination of just four transfers alone – Oscar, Carlos Tevez, Ramires and Jackson Martinez – cost a combined total of £175 million. 

As well as the European clubs being rewarded with hefty transfer fee's, so too are the players with astronomical wages, with players like Tevez set to make £64m over two years. However, that will all change soon according to Simons. " 

(The rule) changes the dynamics of the professional league here in all kinds of ways - certainly in terms of investors ability to attract top players. 

"I mean the sponsors, which have been attracted to the league because of the star players, the gate receipts which have been increasing, all can be impacted by this policy." 

The tax will come into effect on June 16 when the Super League's transfer window opens, which is two weeks before the European windows opens.

More at Tribal Football.

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The China Football Association is illegal under FIFA rules - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

Soccer in China is government-organized and that not only leads to a bad quality soccer, it is also illegal under the FIFA rules, writes soccer expert Rowan Simons at the New York Times. Rowan Simons is chairman of China ClubFootball FC, the first amateur football network in China with foreign investors, and the author of “Bamboo Goalposts.

 Rowan Simons

China is not at the World Cup and its women’s team is no longer a leading force for reasons of politics, economics, culture and education — all challenges we are trying to tackle with ClubFootball. 

Let’s talk politics. The Chinese Football Association is an illegal organization under Article 17 of FIFA’s constitution which demands independence from government. Yet government control of the C.F.A. is clearly laid out in China’s 1994 Sports Law. These mutually exclusive regulations pose significant concerns. 

This “top down” system has several fundamental flaws that ignore the long-term grassroots solutions required. Chinese sport still follows a Soviet model, placing children in elite schools (at their own expense!). Football is a mass participation sport in which the best players may not emerge until their later teens. The simple truth is that China needs a system of community-based clubs that are run by the people for the people.

Since the C.F.A. does not even have a department for amateur football, football must grow itself. With 100,000 supporters, 2,000 kids in after-school courses and 100 adult teams, this is exactly what ClubFootball is proving today in Beijing. If our small success (with no government funding) could be replicated in every large city, China could finally benefit from its one great football advantage — its people.

More at the New York Times.

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Why soccer in China will fail - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

China´s soccer clubs have been spending unprecedented amounts of capital in buying foreign players and improving high-profile stadiums and other infrastructure, hoping to win the World Cup. But the basis is wrong, so the efforts will fail, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons to AFP,

AFP:

The world's most populous nation has 25 times more people than England, but lags far behind its 37,000 football clubs, says Rowan Simons, a football author and founder of a private football club in the capital. 

Without grassroots teams and a deep pool of players, he said, "It's irrelevant how much money the government puts into it -- football can never flourish unless people love it."

"In Chinese there's just no history of civic society, that's really at the heart of it," Simons told AFP. "That's why top-down national funding will never work."

More at AFP.

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Uphill battle for Xi´s soccer dream - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

Developer Reeze Fan of SoccerWorld tries to capitalize on president Xi Jinping´s dream to change China into a soccer nation by building recreational soccer complexes. But despite prominent support, Fan faces an uphill battle, warns soccer expert Rowan Simons in Bloomberg.

Bloomberg:

SoccerWorld contracts with local governments and the occasional shopping mall to replace old, poorly maintained municipal fields with the kind of recreational soccer complexes that are ubiquitous in the U.K., with locker rooms, concession stands and synthetic fields big enough for 7-a-side. 

Fan says SoccerWorld will double the number of centers it operates to 60 by the end of next year, and spend 500 million yuan ($74.8 million) by 2022 to increase that number to more than 150. Even with Xi’s support, he has an uphill climb, says Rowan Simons, the founder of amateur soccer club ChinaFootball FC, which trains 3,000 children. “Nobody plays at the levels and frequencies required to support dedicated centers,” he said. “It will be at least a generation before such services will be required on a mass level.”

More in Bloomberg.

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China´s failing soccer reform - Rowan Simons

Reforming Chinese soccer has been one of the pet projects of president Xi Jinping. But despite much political goodwill and millions moving ahead, results have been poor, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons in a wide-ranging interview with the South China Morning Post, looking at his grass-root experiences in Beijing.

The South China Morning Post:

The (Xi Jinping) plan was issued in 2014 and it’s been two years. Is such change really happening?

No. I haven’t seen any practical change.

The reform plan is a wonderful plan, a long-term plan which China needs. President Xi [Jinping] put reform of the FA at the very top of his agenda, but it’s also the hardest thing. 

What’s been stopping the reform? Why is the reform so difficult?

When I saw the president’s speech about the football reform, I thought he was asking China a much bigger question, about whether China, as a big society, can actually organise properly something as simple as football. If we can’t even organise football properly, how can we think about our civil society?

The big problem in China that sports tackles directly is corruption. Fair play is at the heart of sports. And it’s China’s problem.

These are principles and morals, such as respect for each other, respect for truth, respect for fair play, respect for meritocracy. These are all the things that China is missing so massively and what sports could bring about. 

What else in Chinese society or culture do you see as relevant to football development?

I see a middle-class has emerged, who are desperate for the type of experience and quality of life that comes in clubs, social groups and societies. That is also the basis of grass-roots football. 

Can a similar club model be copied to big cities like Shanghai, where the middle class has developed? Do you have such plan already?

Yes. Every single city should have network. But coaching capacity is a big problem.

We will start to move into different cities. But the truth is that after all this time, the Beijing market still has much room for growth. We are so far away in Beijing if China wants to have the same rate of participation. There is a long way to go. 

When will you regard yourself as being successful with the football club in China?

A popular term recently is social enterprise. We kind of see we would fit into this area.

We’d like to make money and we deserve it, and it is possible because it can be in any developed market with a middle class that seeks quality of life and pays for quality experiences.

But we absolutely also have an impact on society. We are building communities and friendships. Another thing I have seen in China is the stratification of society, with little mobility between the social levels. Is it possible for the taxi driver kid to meet the CEO kid in Chinese society? Sport provides that fair, level playing field.

The side product of my plan is many happy kids. I don’t know if there is going to be a national team player, that’s not our aim. But if you want a national team and use the current Soviet system, my way will work quicker.

More in the South China Morning Post.

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Why China´s billionnaires look for European soccer clubs - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

European soccer clubs and their stakeholders look on with mixed feelings when yet another Chinese billionnaire sets his eyes on their clubs. But from the perspective of the Chinese billionnaires it makes perfectly sense, says Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the China Rich List Hurun to the Telegraph.

The Telegraph:

For an idea of the potential investment in China that might yet pour into European football, and in particular the English game, one need only consult the unofficial rich list of Chinese society to learn that the country now has 596 dollar billionaires, more even than the United States. 

The Hurun Report, which attempts to track the rising fortunes of China’s richest men and women estimates those 596 head count of billionaires is up from a total of 20 just 10 years ago, growing over the last year at the rate of five a week. Speaking to Telegraph Sport this week, the chairman of The Hurun Report, Rupert Hoogewerf, said that the interest in European football is “huge”. 

“I know at least three billionaires who are looking to buy English or Spanish football clubs,” he said. “The real size of the market is probably 10 times that.”... 

All (recent purchases) have been acquired according to different business strategies with different aims in mind but, says Hoogewerf, on the basis that these are viable investments with a long-term return. President Xi Linping’s visit to the City Football Academy headquarters of Manchester City last October was the ultimate state endorsement, and Chinese investors seeking to buy clubs will find state policy in their favour. 

Buying a European football club represents a relatively trouble-free way of moving money overseas and, Hoogewerf says, it also equates to value at home. The effect of the brand of a British club on the value of a company in China can be transformative. “Once you have made an acquisition [as a Chinese investor] and put that asset into a Chinese-listed company you might find that its [the club’s] value is much higher than in the UK.”

More in the Telegraph.

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No Messi or Ronaldo for China soon - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

There is no shortage of ambition and money to put soccer on China´s agenda as the FIFA 2018 World Cup in South-Korea is on the horizon. But there is no quick fix to makes it into the world league fast, warns soccer expert Rowan Simons in the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Rowan Simons, author of Bamboo Goalposts and chairman of Beijing-based grassroots outfit China ClubFootball argues that China won’t have their own Messi or Ronaldo anytime soon.

“It is virtually impossible for a Chinese superstar to emerge in mainland China. First, over 99% of kids in China do not play football,” he said.

“From the less than 1% who even play the game, statistically 0% receive high quality coaching at the earliest ages.” 

That’s changing, in both terms of participation and coach education but there’s no shortcut for either. Simons goes further, though, suggesting that even with both in place the odds are small – an exceptional youngster would need to be spotted very early and quickly end up in a European academy for a chance to become world class.

Aside from the need for a truly world class player to drag the team forward, it has long been said that Chinese football needs a Yao Ming figure in order for the sport to really take hold among the general public. 

“Forget Yao Ming, a Chinese superstar footballer would be the biggest star ever in world sport,” says Simons. 

“China will go crazy and the pressure will be bigger than that faced by any athlete in history. The earning potential too.” 

It’s not glamorous but it will work in the long run. In the meantime, China should be bidding to host the World Cup if they really want to make sure of their second appearance.

More in the South China Morning Post. Rowan Simons is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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China´s soccer target is more than winning the World Cup - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

President Xi Jinping still wants China to win the World Cup by 2050, but fortunately, his 50-point soccer plans is about much more, tells soccer expert Rowan Simons to WorldCrunch."China's soccer leaders will be millions of people participating in the game because they enjoy it."

WorldCrunch:

Since the president announced his 50-point plan last year, there’s been a lot of talk about China looking to dominate world soccer — maybe even compete for the prized World Cup by 2050.

But Rowan Simons, Chairman of China Club Soccer, says the policy is much more than just that: "The 20,000 schools, host the World Cup. Win the World Cup. That's easy, isn't it? No," he quips. "I hope people can get that in to their heads that this is a historic epoch-making policy change in China that throws Soviet ideology on its head.... (it) frees a single sport from government control and says the people and experts should take control of it and build it." 

Indeed, the plan does call for separating the Chinese Soccer Association from the government. But contrary to popular belief, it isn't a blueprint for China to win the World Cup by 2050. 

Yet it does mention bidding to host the men's World Cup and for the men's team to become globally competitive. But Rowan says that is still not the main purpose. 

"It has always been the problem before that China wants to win the World Cup and it has to win the next World Cup in 4 years or 6 years or 8 years," Simons explains. "This is the first plan that says no we have a long-term 30-year journey toward even thinking about that as a result. And actually that wouldn't be the result we're looking for." 

Instead the "definition of success" for China's soccer leaders will be millions of people participating in the game because they enjoy it, Simons states.

More at WorldCrunch.

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China is overspending on soccer - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

China has been spending too much money on soccer, especially on players and coaches, says soccer expert Rowan Simons to AFP. But there is no end in sight, and it is not helping soccer in China.

 AFP:

China’s big spend comes as the country tries to raise its football game to a level commensurate with its growing economic and military might. China lost all three of its World Cup matches in 2002, its only appearance, letting in nine goals and scoring none. 

“All this craze and investment has come with the appointment of a football-loving president,” Rowan Simons, an author and prominent commentator on Chinese football. 

“But the question is does this have long legs? Will it remain once he steps down, and will it actually promote the sport at home?”... 

Chinese business magnates openly acknowledge that their footballing investments also have political calculations. 

“In general there’s a feeling that the Chinese have been overpaying, especially in some of the player and coach acquisitions,” Simons said. 

But beyond the cash paid for the teams and players, Chinese firms are chasing prestige and visibility for their products.

More at AFP.

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Buying Inter Milan helps egos, not Chinese soccer - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

Retail giant Suning has bought a majority share of Italian soccer club Inter Milan. Soccer expert Rowan Simons suggests in Time that those high-profile purchases might help some egos, but is unlikely to boost soccer in China.

Time:

“For a brand like Sunning, there has to be a global branding angle,” says Rowan Simons, an expert on Chinese soccer and author of Bamboo Goalposts. “And there are definitely ego factors at play here, similar to the other billionaires from the Arab states, Russia or the U.S. that have made similar acquisitions.”... 

“There’s a growing feeling that these sorts of acquisitions actually do nothing to help Chinese football at all,” agrees Simons. “The problems are laid out very clearly in [Xi’s] plan and it begins with the grassroots.” 

China remains bereft of independent, amateur soccer clubs that foster young people enjoying the sport — an unfortunate legacy of the Chinese Communist Party’s aversion to any social enterprise outside its purview that may potentially challenge its dominion. “Any amount of investment at the elite level ultimately will not turn into a good China national team unless you have millions of kids out there playing for fun,” says Simons.

More in Time.

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Clueless Chinese soccer clubs on a spending spree - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

The now-closed shopping spree for soccer players by Chinese clubs has taken the industry by surprise: over 40 players moved East in the past months. But China soccer expert Rowan Simons does not think this is necessarily a smart move, he tells the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail:

Late last year, state-backed investment firm China Media Capital was part of a consortium that bought a $400 million stake in Premier League giants Manchester City. 

The enthusiasm has driven the premium prices for talent, according to Rowan Simons, an author and prominent commentator on Chinese football. "The buying spree is spurred on by the wish to please the president, so money is no object", said Simons, adding that the country "is a naive new buyer in this very small market and is ill-equipped to negotiate effectively against the super-agents who wrote the book".

More in the Daily Mail.

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Soccer reform might work - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

After decades of failed reforms, China´s soccer sees now the largest push for change ever, triggered by soccer fan Xi Jinping. Soccer expert Rowan has some hope it might work, he tells Associated Press.

Associated Press:

Rowan Simons, head of China ClubFootball, an amateur soccer network in Beijing with 4,000 children, said the reform plan has the potential to be a major turning point if the government truly commits to the long-term process. 

"It changes what has been a fatal short-termism, leaders being appointed and requiring results in the few years they'll be there, and discounting any plans that take longer than that," he said. 

"Football reform has been tried many times in China, but nothing of this scale."

More at Associated Press.

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Why Chinese clubs buy expensive soccer players - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

Upcoming China President Xu Jinping is an avid soccer fan and that - say experts like Rowan Simons - might explain why business people are throwing big money at foreign soccer players like  Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, writes the BBC.

The BBC:

Rowan Simons, is the author of the book Bamboo Goalposts, the story of his long-term efforts to develop grass-roots football in China, and he has no doubt about the money now being lavished on foreign signings. 

"These are vanity projects, investments to curry political favour and to show off," he says. 

And he agrees that the wealthy club owners will be paying close attention to the political signals coming from the very top. 

"Of course the Chinese government has been fairly consistent in its ambition to win the World Cup, and it sees investment in football at club level as being a spur for the game." 

But there is a big flaw in the plan, he adds. 

"It's certainly true that the likes of Anelka and Drogba turning up will increase interest in the game, but the problems in Chinese football are systemic; very few football pitches and virtually no infrastructure at the grass-roots level."

More at the BBC.

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Better to spend money on soccer players than bribes - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

The influx of well-paid international soccer stars into Chinese club might not be the best way to support grassroots soccer, tells author Rowan Simons in SportsDay, but it is better to pay high-flyers like Nicolas Anelka in stead of bribes, as was common practices.

Sportsday:

“This is just the beginning. Every transfer window from now on you will expect to see more 30-plus world stars, or previous world stars, starting to take big salary payments for a couple of years in China,” said Rowan Simons, a British ex-pat who in his 2009 book Bamboo Goalposts wrote of his dogged efforts to develop soccer in his adopted country... 

China’s women’s national team nearly won the World Cup in 1999, holding Mia Hamm and the United States scoreless for 120 minutes in the final before succumbing in a penalty kick shootout at the Rose Bowl. The men’s team, however, has never won a game or even scored a goal at the World Cup, going 0-3-0 in its lone appearance in 2002. The current team has already been eliminated from qualifying for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 

Rather than spending on talent or player development, the Chinese for years have used their money to buy off referees and players. Just this week, several Chinese Football Association officials and referees — including a former director of the CFA’s referee committee — went on trial on match-fixing charges. 

Simons says the new spending spree on talent could be good for China, with money that might have been spent on rigging results now going toward purchasing high-profile players. But, speaking on the BBC radio program World Football, he expressed skepticism “whether this new injection of cash at the top will really have a significant impact on the grass roots,” which is where China has long suffered.

More in SportsDay

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Anelka opens international floodgates for Chinese soccer - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

The transfer of Chelsea soccer star Nicolas Anelka to Shanghai's Shenhua could become a turning point in China's troubled soccer league, says soccer specialist Rowan Simons, in The Sun. "His move will open the floodgates."

The Sun:

Chinese football expert Rowan Simons, a Beijing-based British expat involved in the game for more than 20 years, said: "Anelka will be the first big star in the Chinese Super League. His move will open the floodgates, so it is a very significant one. " 

Chinese clubs are owned by a mixture of government-linked bodies and private companies and individuals. 

"The money to buy these big stars is coming from very rich private owners who have made fortunes in Chinese business and now want to indulge their passion for football. 

"Like super-rich club owners around the world, they are always looking for new ways to massage their egos and football can help build government relations. 

"The problem is that each has to outshine the previous one so, right now, the hunt is on for a player bigger than Anelka."... 

Simons, whose 'Bamboo Goalposts' book about Chinese football was nominated for the William Hill award in 2008, said: "Chinese football was at the very bottom after corruption scandals and continued failure to make international finals. 

"China is the fastest-growing economy and hundreds of billionaires have emerged. Until now, they have not wanted to be too high-profile for political reasons. 

"But the government has now called on them to save Chinese football and they are gaining in confidence. "The endgame for China is the World Cup — first to qualify for it again, then to do well, then to win it. 

"There are two ways of getting there. One involves throwing money at the elite, with the top reaching down to select and process large numbers of children in order to produce winning teams. The other involves throwing money at grassroots." 

Simons has worked hard on the grassroots angle, using his Club Football organisation to create an amateur structure in Beijing virtually from scratch. 

But the arrival of Anelka, 32, suggests the Chinese game wants to try the 'top-down' route.

More in The Sun

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NBA puts soccer to shame - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons by Fantake via Flickr

The NBA has become a tremendous success in China, both in popularity and as a money machines. Unlike soccer, tells Rowan Simons CNN, a leading expert on soccer in China, who points at corruption scandals as the main reason.
In CNN:

Earlier this year the former head of the Chinese Super League, Nan Yong, and his deputy Yung Yimin, were arrested on charges of match fixing and bribery.

The scandal has been a huge boon for basketball, and in particular the NBA, in China. It has overtaken football as the most watched sport in the country -- the NBA estimates 450 million people now tune in -- and more than 300 million play the game.

"The NBA in China is massively successful and puts football to shame," explains Rowan Simons, author of Bamboo Goalposts, a book about his attempts to set up amateur football clubs in China.

"The NBA set up NBA China, selling 11 per cent [worth $253 million] to ESPN and Disney. It has several hundred employees. The head of NBA China is Tim Chen [former CEO of Microsoft China].

"It's a big investment play for hearts and minds of Chinese sports fans. They are working with the Chinese government to get a basketball court into ever village in China," added Simons. 

"Marketing, franchised teams, sponsorship, AEG building the stadiums; it's all coordinated in one NBA push. Then you look at football. Internationally, football has no representation in China. Manchester United has one office in Hong Kong."

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Why China is not at the World Cup - Rowan Simons

Image via Wikipedia

China's soccer expert Rowan Simons explains in the New York Times why China is not present at the current World Cup in South Africa:

Let’s talk politics. The Chinese Football Association is an illegal organization under Article 17 of FIFA’s constitution which demands independence from government. Yet government control of the C.F.A. is clearly laid out in China’s 1994 Sports Law. These mutually exclusive regulations pose significant concerns.

Soccer needs a bottom-up approach from the grassroots in the urban neighborhoods, an approach that does not fit the country's bureaucratic culture:

Chinese sport still follows a Soviet model, placing children in elite schools (at their own expense!). Football is a mass participation sport in which the best players may not emerge until their later teens. The simple truth is that China needs a system of community-based clubs that are run by the people for the people.

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Rowan Simons is the chairman of China ClubFootball FC, the first amateur football network in China with foreign investors, and the author of “Bamboo Goalposts. He is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

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