Menu
Finance

Chinese Gov't Says It Will Curb 'Irrational' Spending Following Oscar, Tevez Signings

China’s "unprecedented spending" on foreign football talent "faces curbs" after the government issued a rebuke over the "irrational" sums lavished on top players from around the world, according to Panja & Lin of BLOOMBERG. The comments by China’s Sports General Administration "come days after the unveiling of two of the highest profile arrivals to the country’s top division." Argentine Carlos Tevez, a 32-year-old forward "reaching the end of his career," will become the world’s best-paid player with a reported salary of $42M per season. He joined Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua "shortly after" Shanghai SIPG paid Chelsea $75M for Brazilian midfielder Oscar. The SGA said China’s government will "regulate and restrain high-priced signings, and make reasonable restrictions on players' high incomes." The sums being paid by teams in China "have spiked" since President Xi Jinping made football a "national priority" in '15. The fees "have upended the global player transfer market." With teams showing "little sign of restraint, the government may introduce specific curbs, including an as-yet-unspecified upper spending cap on transfer fees and salaries," according to the sports administration (BLOOMBERG, 1/5). In London, Tom Hancock reported the warning "comes as Beijing seeks to curb capital flight disguised as foreign investment." Some Chinese companies "are thought to have moved billions of dollars offshore via acquisitions to escape the country’s weakening currency," with analysts noting a "particular tendency to overpay for foreign assets." China’s "football spending splurge spread around the world over the past year, with Chinese companies buying a stake" in Man City and acquiring Serie A side AC Milan, alongside lesser known teams. The SGA was "partially echoing the language of four senior finance regulators" who last month issued a joint statement saying they were monitoring "irrational" overseas investment in real estate, hotels, film, entertainment and sports clubs (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/5).

YOUTH MOVEMENT: REUTERS' David Stanway reported Xinhua said on Thursday that Chinese clubs have been "burning money" on the acquisition of "expensive and overpaid" foreign talent and have "neglected the development of domestic players." An SGA spokesperson said that to help nurture "hundred-year clubs" rooted in local communities, China needed to "put its teams under stricter financial supervision, and seriously insolvent clubs should be forced out of the league" (REUTERS, 1/5).

'NOTHING BUT SICK': ESPN.com's Mark Lovell reported Bayern Munich President Uli Hoeneß labeled the spending power of Chinese clubs "sick" the day after Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was linked to a world-record €150M ($158.9M) move to Shanghai SIPG. Hoeneß said to Sky Sport News Deutschland, "It's sick. It's nothing but sick. I only hope that it's just a phase like we had in America at one stage" (ESPN.com, 1/5).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2017/01/06/Finance/China-Spending.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2017/01/06/Finance/China-Spending.aspx

CLOSE