Long-time Chinese football enthusiasts like Bian Minming "fear the game is being taken away from them," according to David Stanway of REUTERS. All footballing nations "have struggled to balance the interests of commercial sponsors with those of hardcore fans," but in China, encouraged by President Xi Jinping to become a football superpower, investors "hold all the cards." All 16 clubs in China’s top league "have been forced to incorporate the names of new owners or sponsors in their team names -- constant changes that irritate fans." Other clubs have "been forced to move home, sometimes more than once." Bian: "The football association needs to learn. The league shouldn’t allow clubs to keep changing names, because only then will they be able to attract more fans." The Chinese FA "did not respond to a request for comment." Buying foreign talent may increase interest -- China "spent more in the winter transfer window than the entire English Premier League -- but as with the Gulf States, sports industry veterans warn it will do little to boost the homegrown talent that China needs if it is to achieve Xi’s ambition of one day winning the World Cup." Cameron Wilson, who runs Wild East Football, said, "China’s top-down approach to everything does not fit football at all." Of course, without sponsorship, China's clubs "would have no chance of importing international stars such as former Arsenal and Roma striker Gervinho or Senegal's Demba Ba." Such banner signings "have fueled lucrative TV deals -- but not yet homegrown success." Waley Ho, founder of Reds in Shanghai, a ManU supporters group, said, "There are differences in culture, in the national personality and tradition. It will still need time" (REUTERS, 7/25).
