Football Resurgence: China's National Team Has Game Shown On Primetime TV

The China national football team's Asian Cup preliminary match aired on China Central Television for the full 90 minutes live, "in a sign the sport is witnessing resurgence on the national stage after years of being plagued by scandal," according to the CHINA DAILY. China beat Iraq in the second round, 1-0, with a goal in stoppage time. CCTV-1's daily primetime news program Xinwen Lianbo, which is regarded as China's "most authoritative broadcaster," reported the game result the following day. On Friday, the on-spot report "featured pre-game images and China's preparation work minutes before the game kicked off." The whole game was screened live. CCTV's sports program, CCTV-5 Dir General Jiang Heping said that it "was the first time that Xinwen Lianbo broadcast a pre-game report of the team" (CHINA DAILY, 3/26).