The Chinese Football Association (CFA) laid out its spending strategies to enhance the state of domestic football in China, in a bid to promote transparency. This comes amid exorbitant spending in the Chinese Super League, which the association recently restricted in its new rule.
China's top governing body in football is set to take 670 million yuan in revenue this year, mainly generated from sponsorship deals. To make the most out of that development, the CFA plans to invest in the overall improvement of the national team, as well as making football more popular in the country.
Other areas in which the CFA plans to spend its revenues include women's football, championships, and trainings within the junior league, Caixin Global reported. Said plans constitute a clear vision for the future of Chinese football--one that's currently wrought with problems revolving around corruption.
Analysts welcomed the CFA's move to establish a clear-cut plan to develop Chinese football. Sports commentator Xiao Liangzhi called the move a "step up" for the governing body, considering the lack of confidence among other associations to establish goals.
Sports commentator and author Wu Celi received the matter as a motivating development for Chinese football.
However, he noted that the current figures have yet to determine whether market-oriented ways to allocate for the intended areas of investment will be ideal.
It's no secret that improving Chinese football is currently a state-sponsored effort, given the bold vision of President Xi Jinping to turn China into a global footballing superpower. Yet, the game's state of affairs in the country has threatened to take a wrong turn due to overspending in the Chinese Super League.
That, however, has also been the direct target of the CFA's sweeping changes, which led to the introduction of the three-player quota per club in every match. Such is a response to the mind-boggling amounts of cash splashed by Chinese clubs on European talent, which reached $2 billion in two years.