China vows to reach soccer glory

‍‍China is pretty good at a whole bunch of sports, but soccer, not so much. China's average historical soccer world ranking is 71st and it hasn't qualified for the World Cup finals since the 2002 tournament. But the country is doing its best to change the situation. 

China has launched a reform plan intended to enhance players' skills and the national team's performance. The plan also aims to expose about 2.2 million children in five thousand primary and secondary schools to three hours of soccer a week. And the number of schools participating in soccer is set to rise to 20,000 by 2020 and to 50,000 by 2025.

The plan will also let the China Football Association decide its own staffing and financing instead of being run by China's sporting administration body. 

More than two thousand officials, 3,000 headmasters and 5,400 PE teachers in China's primary and secondary schools will help children learn the "beautiful game." One thousand retired professional players, coaches and judges also will be involved with a national soccer training plan for teenagers. 

Taken from CNTV.cn‍‍