Recently, he has been on the hit list of major platforms along with 77-year-old Brazilian President Lula's visit to China and what he said in a high-end interview with CCTV - that he regularly follows soccer matches in China and watches Chinese soccer leagues broadcast on Brazilian TV channels.
Consider the weakness and underachievement of Chinese soccer in recent years, especially the negative media coverage. The president of Brazil, the "Kingdom of Soccer", said that he was "always concerned about the Chinese soccer league". Should we laugh, laugh, or laugh?
The interview has already generated a lot of buzz on social media, with Chinese netizens surprised by Lula's interest in Chinese soccer matches. Some mocked it as "too much face for Chinese soccer", "Lula's heart is not bad" and "Let's talk about world peace".
This reminds Lao Ding of the recent anti-corruption storm in the domestic soccer world. Since November 26 last year, China's men's football former head coach Li Tie was announced to accept the supervision and investigation, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) Chairman, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chen Xuyuan, CFA Executive Committee, the former Secretary General Liu Yi, the CFA Executive Deputy Secretary General, Minister of State Administration Chen Yongliang, and so on, a number of the former Football Association, "big shot" so far fell into disrepute.
A recent exclusive investigative report from "Global People" reveals many unknown aspects of Chen Xuyuan's "exquisite but unknowledgeable chairman of the Football Association".
Chen Xuyuan, 67, has reportedly gone from dockworker to president of state-owned SIPG. Interviewees in the soccer world describe him as a "stupid and sophisticated" layman, while old colleagues say he is a "nice old man" who doesn't know anything about business.
A soccer insider close to Chen Xuyuan said that Chen Xuyuan is an unfounded person. In a friendly match, the staff of the Football Association prepared only seven kinds of drinks for him. When he went to Dalian to watch a match, he not only demanded a very high hotel, but also asked for a potato chip by name, which was hard to buy on the market. As a result, the local receptionist has been worried for a long time. "What do you think? He doesn't look like a longshoreman's boss. More like a successful businessman speculating in the South Seas."
Reports indicate that Chen Xuyuan loves mahjong. During the preliminaries, he went to the front line to oversee the fighting and needed staff to play mahjong with him, which affected the team's preparations. At the FA, Chen Xuyuan had few things to do, almost all of which centered around the national soccer team. Other programs and leagues were neglected. As a result, the performance of the national soccer team did not rise, and the performance of futsal, beach soccer, national youth, and national youth all declined. The Chinese Super League, Chinese First Division and Chinese Second Division have more than double-digit dissolved teams every year.
In 2019, Chen Xuyuan made a statement on the relationship between soccer and money, saying that soccer is a noble sport, so don't let money be tainted. However, former Hong Kong assistant coach Tse Fai once revealed over drinks, "I know they spent $12 billion in Hong Kong to win this championship." The remark caused a furor when it reached the Internet. The Hong Kong club did not respond to the public, nor did Chen Xuyuan mention it.
Many soccer professionals say Chen Xuyuan is an amateur. Since he took office, the CFA has introduced many measures, both good and bad. "Maybe Chen Xuyuan really wanted to do something when he first arrived at the CFA, but the complex environment and his own flaws made him step on many potholes. Stepping on it, he didn't know where the flat ground was and where the pits were."
With a series of former FA executives falling from grace and the increase in subsequent notifications, perhaps the details relating to Chen Xuyuan are just the tip of the iceberg of what has been a shocking and corrupt domestic soccer scene for many years. One still doesn't see a lot of optimistic content, especially for the future of Chinese soccer.
