UK-China Football Development Forum advances soccer hopes

UK-China Football Forum was held in London on Sep.18. The forum was co-hosted by China's State General Administration of Sports, the UK's Department for Culture, Media & Sport and the British Council.

As the first government-backed exchange event on the development of the sport, the forum was aimed at helping improve Chinese soccer through communication between the two sides.

There is huge potential and complementarity for China and Britain to cooperate on soccer, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said in London on Friday.

"Britain has a rich soccer culture and history, and a mature professional league, while China has an enormous soccer fan population and market," Liu said at the China-UK Football Exchange Forum at Capital City Football Academy in London.

"Strengthening cooperation on soccer between China and the UK has a historical origin and realistic needs as well," Liu said.

As China vigorously promotes soccer reform, it wants to learn from strong teams as are found in the UK.

"From our basis in China's conditions, we want to learn from the advanced experiences from the world," Liu said, adding that China will develop professional and youth soccer.

China has further pushed forward the development of soccer talent with the Ministry of Education planning to have 20,000 primary or middle schools with specialized soccer programs by 2020, Liu said.

During the third China-UK high level people-to-people dialogue, China and Britain signed a partnership plan called "China-UK youth football future star", which is the first cooperation plan between China and countries with well-developed soccer traditions since China launched a program of domestic soccer reform.

The partnership is expected to train more excellent Chinese soccer talents and enhance the understanding and friendship between the two countries.

Soccer insiders said that as the China-UK relationship is entering a "golden age", cooperation in the sport will become a new highlight of their cultural exchanges and also advance their friendship.

John Whittingdale, British secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said at the forum: "Football has a long and proud history, bringing people across the world together. The success of the Premier League is partly because of overseas supporters, including Chinese fans. "Chinese football is going from strength to strength. The Chinese government has put major investment in the game, and football has entered more and more primary schools. I believe China will become a formidable force in football, just as in other sports games," Whittingdale added.

Richard Scudamore, CEO of Premier League, on Social responsibility of Premier League, said, "Every club of Premier League, and many from lower level football leagues, have their separate foundations and community arms. On the one hand, these foundations help engage young people and the community in the game, and on the other hand, they use the power of football to strengthen social bond."

"We have 250,000 people working in these clubs' foundations and arms, which is almost the same number of workers in the clubs themselves. Every single year, through the work of these foundations and arms, we involve 500,000 young people to engage in football programs and other social programs such as health and education ones. Through these programs, young people, including the most vulnerable in society, are given opportunities to become better integrated into their local communities, to develop their skills for employability and raise their self-esteem," Scudamore said.

On the theme "From grassroots to professional league", the forum brought together representatives from both sides sharing their experiences and ideas on the development of soccer and putting forward suggestions to improve it.

Representing the English side were Martin Glenn, CEO of English soccer's governing body, the Football Association; Richard Scudamore, CEO of Premier League; and Michael Owen, a former international star for England.

Representing China were Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group, which backed Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club; Wang Jianlin, a real estate tycoon who has a long history of investing in soccer; and Li Tie and Fan Zhiyi, two former Chinese soccer players who were the first to play in the UK's Premier League.

Taken from China Daily