[Epoch Times, May 17, 2022]Following the postponement and cancellation of several sports events, the Chinese Communist Party announced a few days ago that it would give up hosting the 2023 Asian Cup final week. Some analysts believe that the CCP’s abandonment of the Asian Cup may be related to epidemic prevention, but it is more likely to be related to the despair of the Chinese men’s football team.
Due to the epidemic situation, on May 6, the 19th Asian Games originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou from September 10 to 25 was announced to be postponed; the Asian Youth Games to be held in Shantou at the end of the year was cancelled; originally scheduled to be held in Chengdu, Sichuan in June The 31st Summer Universiade will be postponed to 2023.
On May 14, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that the Chinese Organizing Committee has decided to give up the right to host the 2023 Asian Cup final week.
On the same day, the Asian Cup China Organizing Committee issued a notice saying that the 2023 AFC Asian Cup was originally scheduled to be held in China from June 16 to July 16, 2023, but due to the impact of the epidemic, the Chinese Organizing Committee is currently difficult. The Asian Cup has made commitments and arrangements in accordance with the “completely open model”. After deliberation, it was decided that this Asian Cup will be held in another location.
In this regard, some mainland fans expressed puzzled, “There are still 14 months before the game, and now we are forced to make a commitment to epidemic prevention? What will happen by then? Why should we decide so long in advance?”
Hong Kong’s “Ming Pao” commented on May 17 that it was a surprise that the authorities cancelled a major international sports event a year later. The abandonment of the Asian Cup this time may be related to epidemic prevention, but to a greater extent it is probably due to the despair of the top management for the performance of the Chinese men’s football team.
The article stated that Xi Jinping claimed to be a “football fan”. After he was in charge of the preparations for the Beijing Olympics as the vice-president of the country, he showed his interest in Chinese football many times. “3 Wishes”.
After Xi Jinping came to power, in 2014, the Ministry of Education announced that it would establish and improve the four-level football league mechanism for primary schools, junior high schools, high schools and universities, and plan to expand the number of designated football schools to about 20,000; Overall Plan”, with the mid-term goal of men’s football becoming one of the top players in Asia.
The article believes that the performance of the Chinese men’s football team in recent years has disappointed Chinese fans, including Xi. In a series of international competitions, not only has the gap with the top Asian teams further widened, but also lost to Thailand, Vietnam, draws with the Philippines and India, and the Asian ranking has dropped from ninth to tenth. This year’s AFC Champions League, two Chinese Super League The club actually sent the youth team to perfunctory, causing international criticism.
The article concluded that, according to the current situation, the chances of the Chinese men’s football team coming back to life after a year are slim. To play at such a level in many cities in China will not only be embarrassing, but also cause commotion among fans and cause social incidents.
On April 16 this year, two Chinese Super League teams, Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou, played in the AFC Champions League. In the first game, Shandong Taishan lost 0:7 to Daegu FC, a powerhouse in the Korean League, and Guangdong lost 0:5 to Daegu FC. Malaysian team Johor. On the first day of the game, the two Chinese teams lost 12 goals and did not score a single goal.
The article “Zhang Zhan Talks Entertainment” said that in these two games, the goalkeepers of both teams made low-level mistakes, even more amateur mistakes than amateurs. The two teams sent by the Chinese men’s football team played a very disappointing result, and it made Chen Xuyuan, the chairman of the Football Association, lose face.
The review article of “Creators in the Field of High-Quality Sports” said that the AFC Champions League is the highest-level event for Asian clubs, and its status is equivalent to the European Champions League and the Libertadores Cup in South America. The importance is self-evident. However, the Guangzhou team and the Shandong team have successively brewed the AFC Champions League tragedy.
On February 1, the Chinese football team played away against Vietnam. They lost two goals in a row shortly after the opening game, and finally lost 1-3 to Vietnam, which had lost all seven games before, which made the fans at the scene very angry. This is the first time that the Chinese men’s football team has lost to Vietnam in 62 years, and it also declares that the Chinese men’s football team has completely missed the Qatar World Cup at the end of this year.
Responsible editor: Xu Menger#
