In the past four months, China's soccer world has been in a state of flux, with every fluctuation tugging at the heartstrings of the outside world. First, soccer giants such as Li Tie, Chen Yongliang, Liu Yi and Chen Xuyuan have fallen from grace, followed by the outbreak of Wu Xinghan's cheating scandal, and even the outspoken claim that the Chinese Super League is riddled with match-fixing, with as much as 400,000 yuan in illegal gains behind each match. Yet amid all this turmoil, the only encouraging news was the U20 national soccer team's 2-0 win over defending champion Saudi Arabia at the Asian Cup, injecting a shot in the arm for Chinese players.
But recently, Chinese soccer has been making waves once again, with clashes between domestic soccer reporters even turning into an on-air conversation. National soccer team reporter Ma Dexing had questioned and mocked soccer daily reporter Li Xuan's physical defects, and the two men disagreed on their reporting stance and professional ethics.After the U20 national soccer team beat Saudi Arabia, Ma's remarks seemed to suggest that some reporters could only rest on their indoor internet fame, while he preferred to report on the ground in person. In the article, Ma Dexing wrote: "I believe that there is a fundamental difference between live interviews and becoming an internet celebrity at home, I am just a reporter, not an internet celebrity! I'm just a reporter, not an internet celebrity! I reported on the Saudi Arabian team before the match, forcing them out of the hotel, just to kick them out of the Asian Cup! On-site interviews, we are meticulous, please see my report in person." As soon as this statement was made, Li Xuan then countered with a lengthy 1,800-word article, in which she talked about three main things. First, she mentioned the historical feud between herself and Ma Dexing. Li Xuan was controversial for blasting Chen Xuyuan for playing poker during national team training, while Ma Dexing called Li Xuan a "disabled person" in an attempt to become an internet celebrity. Upon learning of the incident, Chen Xuyuan, the president of the Football Association, joined Dai Xiaowei, the national football team's press officer, in front of reporters to condemn Ma Dexing for not mocking Li Xuan's physical handicap, but for focusing on the incident itself. Secondly, Li Xuan pointed out that Ma Dexing had been reporting with the national soccer team for the past 12 matches, and that both Li Tie and Chen Xuyuan had defended him, which had caused him to lose the objective stance that journalists should have. Lastly, Li Xuan mentioned that Ma Dexing had openly accused Coach Antonio at a seminar, questioning why he did not take two overseas players he considered capable, while Antonio's assistant team directly refuted Ma Dexing, even leaving Ma Dexing and Chen Xuyuan and others speechless. This time, if what reporter Li Xuan revealed is true, then the chaos in Chinese soccer is evident. Both coaches, Antonio and Jankovic, are brave leaders who have their own recruitment criteria and will not listen to the advice of other non-professionals. In short, the problems of Chinese soccer are piling up and will be difficult to solve for a while. The most crucial thing is to let professionals focus on their specialties. Take the national soccer team as an example, all tactical arrangements are based on Yankovic's technical and tactical concepts. If the results are poor, he can be dismissed, but should not be arbitrary intervention, because the coach's job is to lead the team to success. If outsiders are pointing fingers, what else can the national soccer coach do?
