China is "in the midst of a national football boom, investing billions of dollars in an effort to realise President Xi Jinping’s dreams of hosting, and one day winning, the World Cup," according to the AFP. China, long an "avid consumer of foreign football such as the English Premier League, is now attracting expensive talent to its domestic competition." China is "finding there is one thing money cannot buy: a love of playing the game, the simple ingredient that many experts see as critical for creating elite performers." The not-for-profit organization trying to build a national network of after-school football programs aimed at encouraging kids' passion for the sport, Dreams Come True Chair Zhou Weihao said that the main goal of the Guangzhou-based program is to "keep children active" and make them "useful to society." This "relaxed approach is unusual for China, and contrasts sharply with the industrial-style efforts of real estate behemoth Evergrande." Sports analysts Mark Dreyer said, "The methods that China has used to great effect to become dominant in other sports cannot be transferred to football. Simply forcing kids to play against their will won’t solve anything." He added that a "total overhaul of its grassroots system" and a "proper footballing pyramid" were crucial (AFP, 5/10).
FIELD OF DREAMS: REUTERS' Ben Blanchard reported the Chinese government said that it plans to have more than 70,000 football pitches "available for everyone to use by 2020 as the country continues to map out ways of revitalising the sport." The plan said that at the end of '13, the country had about 10,000 pitches in "quite good" condition, and there are also some 40,000 in schools." The ones at schools "would be renovated while another 20,000 would be built for society at large to use." Pitches at schools and companies "will be opened for other members of the community to use, either free or at reduced cost, and two new national training centers will be built, according to the plans" (REUTERS, 5/10).
