China is to build 20,000 football-themed schools across the country in a
bid to "tackle obesity and raise the standard of its long
underperforming national team," an Education Ministry official said this
week, according to James Griffiths of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Wang Dengfeng, director of the Physical Education, Health and Art
Department at the Ministry of Education, said that national student
health tests showed that "not enough was being done to battle obesity and
poor fitness." As part of plans to "improve fitness and sporting quality nationwide," Wang said 20,000 "soccer-focused" schools would be built. All students attending these schools will learn to "play the
game to a high standard, and actively take part in competitions at a
local and national level." Wang: "In the future, these children will be members of the national team, and other professional teams." He said that if there were 1,000 students for every football school,
and 10 of those take up the sport full-time, "then that would leave China
with 200,000 potential players." Wang asked, "As long as we cultivate 100,000 outstanding soccer players, how can our soccer not progress?" (SCMP, 11/12).
