Australia's Tim Cahill (C) scores a goal from an overhead kick during their Asian Cup quarter-final soccer match against China at the Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, Jan. 22, 2015. (Photo : REUTERS)
China has set up a high-level government working group to address the state of local soccer, which had brought embarrassment to the nation.
This program was by driven President Xi Jinping, whose personal ambitions for China include qualifying for soccer's World Cup, hosting the event and one day winning it.
Late last year, China's men's team was ranked 97th, behind Antigua and Barbuda that has a population of only 90,000, and just slightly ahead of Faroe Islands with a population of 49,500.
China's soccer failures have incited riots, with national team members having to apologize online after particularly bad games.
It hit rock bottom in 2013 when it lost Thailand's lower-ranked team, prompting a Chinese mob to shout obscenities at the players and block the team bus from leaving. A riot ensued that injured at least 100.
President Xi has since implemented numerous programs, which included making soccer a compulsory part of the national curriculum.
There will also be 20,000 soccer-themed schools by 2017 with the goal of producing more than 100,000 players.
Advanced students will be sent to overseas campuses that China is setting up in Spain and the Netherlands, and there are initiatives to lure 35 international stars to China in the next year.
In Beijing, soccer will be part of the mandatory high school entrance exams and schools will be required to include soccer in their physical education.
In last month's Asian Cup, China won three games in a row and made it in the quarterfinals in what was called by Chinese media as a "fairytale run" and where the players were hailed as heroes.
