Boastful football

Author: Xue Yong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The book covers a wide range of topics, but ultimately asks one core question: How can China develop its professional football? The book aims to expose the root causes of Chinese football. My true intention, of course, is the opposite—to stop using football for show and treat it as a livelihood. The Showy Football vividly reflects this characteristic, and the expertise of the scholars from "world-class universities" is evident in these short yet insightful articles. Before going abroad, the author had already written football commentary and gained instant fame. Many people didn’t know it was his work because it wasn’t published under his real name. At the last World Cup, he returned with a bang and was named one of "China’s Top Ten Football Idiots" due to his popularity among readers. Compared to education, he speaks more convincingly and engagingly about football with greater confidence. He says the fatal problem in football today is the "showy corruption" resulting from the combination of officials and business interests. This corruption has created a massive "football bubble," devouring and wasting a great deal of public resources and steering the professionalization of Chinese football down the wrong path. He believes that money cannot buy high-level performance and only brings about heavy shadows of corruption. Moreover, since the money isn’t his own, he wouldn’t feel guilty or take responsibility. Although I’m not a football fan, after reading this book and seeing how Chinese football has grown worse and the league is on the brink of collapse, I also agree with these points. Even more valuable is that he not only criticizes the scandals and misdeeds but also proposes many reform suggestions. At the same time, he points out that sports can not only improve physical fitness but also serve as an educational tool. Sports competitions teach people how to handle competition, cooperate with teammates, follow the rules, rise in adversity, and face failure. He calls for building more football fields for teenagers and promoting competitive skill and football spirit through "grassroots football," rather than treating sports as a mere face-saving project or political performance.