Caixin
Jan 20, 2023 08:44 PM
CHINA

In Depth: Why Soccer Hasn’t Graduated in China

Children from a youth team play soccer at a court in Xi'an on Sept. 24. Photo: VCG
Children from a youth team play soccer at a court in Xi'an on Sept. 24. Photo: VCG

It has been two decades since China qualified for the World Cup. Fourteen years ago, the country launched a campaign to develop a new generation of players, investing billions of dollars in youth soccer. It’s about time that drive started bearing fruit, but a lack of commitment on the ground and butting heads in Beijing have caused much of the efforts to fall by the wayside.

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