China's richest man, Wanda Group Chair Wang Jianlin, heard President Xi Jinping’s demand -- that China "must qualify for, host, and win a World Cup;" recognizing that the middle prong "is the most likely to happen in this lifetime, he’s throwing a fair few of his billions into sport," according to James Porteous of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. No doubt "eyeing the off-the-charts guanxi to be had by handing Xi the tournament," Wang began his moves around two years ago, "when he set in motion a bid for Infront Sports & Media, a powerful sports marketing firm," with exclusive rights to all of FIFA's competitions. Infront President & CEO Philippe Blatter has now been installed as CEO of Wanda’s sports division. He gave "insight into Wanda’s plans for sport in China and beyond -- including that World Cup ambition." Blatter: "We want to be number one. Sport is about being number 1 -- one rarely remembers who number 2 was." Wang "is not involved day-to-day, says Blatter, but regularly summons the Swiss to the capital for updates." Blatter said of Infront's management presentations in '14, "That’s when I had the chance to see how strong of a sports enthusiast he is, how knowledgeable about sport he is and how passionate he was himself as owner of Dalian Wanda FC. ... More importantly, he is a very inspirational, a visionary leader and he takes a lot of time to help us achieve our goals." Wang said in announcing the FIFA sponsorship deal that Western companies that decided not to renew their partnerships in the wake of the corruption scandal "will surely regret it." Since the 2022 World Cup is in Asia (Qatar), under FIFA’s current rules the earliest China could host is '30. But given the "vast sums being spent by Wanda and other firms" -- Wang said that other Chinese companies "are also likely" to back FIFA -- one wonders if the rules "might be bent." In the immediate future, Blatter and Wanda "are hoping to cash in on China’s rising middle class as they, having bought the apartment and flash car, turn their attention and disposable income to other pursuits." Blatter: "The growth here [in sports as a contribution to GDP] is much larger than the rest of the world. Specifically in China there have been quite a few changes in the last 24 months -- the most notable is the increased role of the government in fostering the development of sports. ... Along with this, we see a liberalization of the media market, which again has a positive impact. ... Another element to consider is the rise of a new middle class. China’s middle class is about 110 million people, which is already as big as the U.S.’s middle class, and it is estimated to double in the next 2-3 years" (SCMP, 4/5).
