Although, like many countries, China still has to yet recover from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic which broke out in Wuhan sometime in 2019 before quickly spreading worldwide, the country is already looking forward to bigger and better things, and that includes in the football world. They recently beat Guam 7-0 in a World Cup qualifier as recently as this past May.
The Chinese Super League, for example, has been a highly ambitious project since its inception in 2004, and the team's owners haven't hesitated to splash the cash in a bid to try to lure the world's biggest players to play in the nation's top flight.
But there are bigger plans in store. According to a recent report, China is seeking to become among the premier footballing powerhouses in Asia by the next decade. While the women's national football team has enjoyed some modicum of success, finishing as runners up at the 1999 Women's World Cup to the USWNT, the same can't be said about their male counterparts.
In 2002, they made their first and only appearance at a World Cup, and crashed out in the group stages after losing every single game without scoring a single goal.
China would clearly want to put that humiliating result firmly behind them, and are presently in the midst of overhauling the team from top to bottom. Among the goals they're aiming to achieve include having about 16 to 18 cities that will have two fully professional teams and corresponding stadiums to support those teams by 2025.
More important, these "football cities" should also have "one football pitch for every 10,000 people" as well as at least "one national youth training center plus a group of local training centers". In addition, 50 per cent of students in these specialized cities should be engaged in playing football at some level.
Each city should be expected to invest around $4.7 million per year if it decides to join this initiative, while the government and the Chinese Football Association (CFA) will allot approximately $780,000 to $1.57 million to each city every year to bolster development.
Ultimately, their hope is that if everything falls into place, by the 2030s, China will be well on their way to being a serious contender for trophies in Asia - and then beyond the region.
