On March 3,
South Korea beat
China 1-0 in the Asian zone Group A, Olympic soccer qualifiers so
continuing a 20-year tradition of dominance on the field. Playing a
home game in Wuhan seventeen days later, the Chinese team was held
to a 1-1 tie by Malaysia, which had not been considered a serious
contender.?
Despite a 3-1 victory over Iran on March 27, China can hold out
little hope for the Athens Olympics since it trails by five points
behind group leader South Korea with three matches to go.
Deeply touched by the fact that Chinese soccer has made no
headway in shaking off its years of under-performance, National
People's Congress (NPC) deputy Chang Jinyue has proposed that the
government introduce a timetable for the withdrawal of state-owned
capital in order to promote the reform of professional soccer.
On March 5, Chang, with the support of 32 other deputies,
submitted the proposal entitled "Protecting State Assets, Promoting
Sports Competition Reform" to the Second Session of the 10th
NPC.
In the words of the proposal, "In other countries it would be
considered unusual to see state-owned capital involved in
professional sports such as soccer and basketball. But in China
huge amounts of public funding have rolled into these high-risk
industries."
Since China introduced professional league matches in 1994,
state-owned capital has been a mainstay of the soccer industry. The
new Chinese Premier League (CPL) is to make its debut this season.
And it had been set to continue the trend for it also enjoys
financial support from many state-owned enterprises including
electric power companies, tobacco firms and media corporations.
Fifty-five-year-old Chang is a private entrepreneur from east
China's Shandong
Province who has sponsored sports activities for decades. He
stresses that it is market forces that should determine investment
in professional sports.
"Massive public funds have poured into China's soccer market
regardless of the investment returns. Such unsound investment is at
variance with the general pattern of market activities. This has
not only served to encourage soccer fraud and bribery but has also
resulted in the loss of state assets," Chang said.
The intervention of public money has merely served to weaken the
market. In sharp contrast with the performance of their clubs,
players' incomes have been soaring, attracting public
condemnation.
"As far as I know, players in our first division soccer league
have been commanding incomes 130 times per capita income,
which is about US$900 a year in China," Chang said, "However in
countries such as Britain, Germany, France and Spain, which have
long-established soccer industries, professional players' incomes
are no more than 30 times those of ordinary people. Soccer incomes
have clearly become divorced from reality here."
Chang suggests that administrative departments should put an end
to state-owned enterprises investing in professional soccer, while
at the same time encouraging and supporting the flow of private
capital into the market.
Chang concedes that at first the intervention of state-owned
capital did indeed provide a considerable impetus to the
development of professional soccer in China. However as time
passed, state-owned enterprises gradually cornered the soccer
market blocking out the entry of private capital. He sees this as
not only going against a spirit of fair play but in the long run as
harmful to the development of the sport.
"With its job already done, it's now time for state-owned
capital to withdraw from the soccer market," Chang said. "Instead,
the state should invest more money in sports infrastructure through
such activities as building soccer fields and improving public
exercise facilities. This would help attract more and more people
into sporting activities."
Chang recognizes that the withdrawal of state-owned capital may
well have a temporary negative impact on Chinese soccer. However
with the rapid development of China's private economy, today's
private enterprises have the resources needed to invest in the
game.
It is anticipated that policies will be put in place to support
a model of private capital plus foreign investment for Chinese
professional soccer. "This is the only way we can hope for
improvement in the overall level of Chinese soccer," Chang
said.
Chang's soccer proposal attracted wide support among the NPC
deputies. The rule is that a proposal cannot be tabled at a NPC
session unless it carries the signatures of least 30 deputies. In
fact Chang had no trouble at all in raising the necessary number of
signatures. He said, "All of the deputies I asked were willing to
sign. I stopped once I had reached 32 because I didn't need any
more. The proposal was submitted to the secretariat of the NPC and
will be forwarded to the relevant governmental departments for
consideration. They have half-a-year to prepare their responses and
after that we can see if it will finally become legislation."
However Chang's proposal has not gone forward without
encountering some opposition. "In the short term Chinese soccer
still needs the support of state-owned capital," said Yin Mingshan,
CPPCC member and founder and CEO of the Chongqing Lifan Industrial
(Group) Co. Ltd.
Yin submitted an alternative proposal to the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). This proposes a
self-regulatory model for Chinese soccer. When interviewed on the
issue of the use of public funds to support soccer he said,
"Private enterprises operate with their own money, while
state-owned enterprises seem to be able to chase after the top
soccer players regardless of cost. We can't just go from one
extreme to the other, from total dependence on public money to
getting rid of it completely."
"Less than a decade has passed since soccer could take to the
field on just tens or hundreds of yuan," Yin said. "Today soccer
needs to be underpinned not only by investment but also by the
necessary equipment, management and services. Private enterprises
just aren't ready."
Yin's view is that it should not be administrative intervention
that decides if the state-owned enterprises should quit Chinese
soccer. He said, "We should act according to market forces. Those
state-owned enterprises that are genuinely committed to the
long-term sustainable development of Chinese soccer and which have
made sound investments based on the realities of the market could
no doubt continue in the game."
However Li Dejiu, a former official of the Bayi Club, which was
disbanded last December, said, "Chang's proposal reflects current
public thinking. At the end of the day state assets are public
resources and they belong to the people. It is clearly
inappropriate to invest such funds without taking due account of
the risks involved. Experience in professional soccer over the
years has proven that no matter how powerful a private enterprise
may be it just can't compete with the deep pockets of public
funding."
 |
According to Li, the commercialization of Chinese soccer has been
held back by the closeness of the relationship between the state
owned enterprises and the government. This has seen some of these
enterprises driven by government intervention to become somewhat
reluctant soccer investors whose activities have then served to
disturb the natural workings of the market. "As far as I know, some
enterprises such as the Yizhong Group would like to quit soccer.
However, they are unable to find other enterprises willing to take
over from them and the government won't allow them to just walk
away from their responsibilities to the game," he said.
Li said, "The introduction of the new Chinese Premier League
(CPL) might be an overly optimistic move at the present time.
Whether or not soccer should be supported by public funds is a
matter that requires legislation. What Chinese soccer really needs
now is standardization of the market with effective back-up
legislation. If the proposal put forward by the deputies can
promote the legislative process, then there will be some hope for
Chinese soccer," he said.
However, if Chang's proposal were to be accepted, more than half
of all CPL clubs could find themselves facing reorganization or
transfer of ownership. The records show that 7 of the 12 CPL clubs
are backed by state-owned enterprises, or directly by the
government.
The following is a full list of CPL clubs showing their sources
of financial backing:
State-owned backing
Beijing Guoan Club, CITIC Group
Liaoning Club, Liaoning Provincial Sports Administration
Qingdao Yizhong Club, Yizhong Group
Shandong Luneng Club, Luneng Electrics
Shanghai International Club, Zhongyuan Group
Shanghai Shenhua Club, Wenguang Media
Tianjin Taida Club, Taida Development Area
Private backing
Chongqing Qiche Club, Lifan Group
Dalian Shide Club, Shide Group
Shenyang Jinde Club, Jinde Group
Shenzhen Jianlibao Club, Jianlibao Group
Sichuan Guancheng Club, Guancheng Group
Soccer criticized at NPC and CPPCC sessions
During previous NPC and CPPCC sessions, deputies and members
have addressed problems besetting Chinese soccer. They have dealt
with such issues as soccer players' high incomes, bribery of
referees and rigged games. However Chang's proposal for the
withdrawal of the support of state-owned capital from soccer comes
as the first of its kind to address this aspect of the game.
In January 2002, during the eighth session of the Zhejiang
Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference, Xie Lijuan
submitted a proposal entitled "We Must Not Allow Black Whistles to
Spread Unchecked".
"Referees who take black money are no different to those
government officials who abuse the power of their positions for
personal gain. Black money is unmitigated corruption and must be
investigated by the judicial departments so as to cut off the
talons of this particular devil," said Xie.
In March 2003 during the 10th NPC, deputies submitted proposals
and suggestions on China's soccer management and legislative
framework. During the 10th CPPCC, the China Democratic National
Construction Association submitted a proposal that pointed out that
the gap between urban and rural incomes had exceeded generally
recognized international limits and that the incomes of male soccer
players far exceeded those of others engaged in sport.
CPPCC member, Ma Junren said that the costs involved in running
the male soccer teams in China were almost as much as for all the
other sporting events put together. "They can only spend money
instead of playing soccer and there's no prospect of them winning a
world title for the next several decades," said Ma.
CPPCC member, He Huixian said that management system failings
were at the root of the corruption. "It's necessary to deepen the
reform of sports' administration," he argued.
The fact is that the Chinese Football Association is funded by
the central government as is the Football Sport Management Center
of the State General Administration of Sports. For some 10 years
these two bodies have shared responsibility for heading up the
richest sport in China. This dual responsibility mechanism with its
shared staff and two different name-boards just cannot meet today's
requirements for deepening reform.
CPPCC member, Li Shuwei said, "Bribe-taking referees can now be
sentenced since today soccer is not above the law. There have been
black whistles in Chinese soccer for a long time. What matters is
the legislative framework and putting Chinese soccer onto a proper
legal footing. Without a sound legal system, problems will continue
to occur in the future. Soccer is not a minor issue for it has a
bearing on social stability and economic development."
(China.org.cn by Li Jingrong and Shao Da, March 30, 2004)
