Globalization and Chinese Sport Policy: The Case of Elite Football in the People's Republic of China

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse China's engagement in global sport through an examination of the case of elite football. Although many studies exhibit a quite proper concern with the extent to which the deep structure of culture is affected by sports globalization, they generally fail to give significant consideration to the role of the state, because of excessive emphasis on other aspects of globalization such as commercialization, commodification and cultural homogenization. We attempt, therefore, to refocus on the role of the state and to investigate its relationship with global sport by adopting the theoretical framework of Held et al. (1999) as the main analytical tool for this study. By taking strategic approaches in the economic and cultural/ideological fields, the Chinese government has demonstrated, to some degree, its capacity to find effective ways to manage its relationship with global football. This was demonstrated particularly by the setting up of new governmental commercial agencies, updating sport and football regulations, and strengthening Chinese communist ideological education.

An analysis of the Chinese Football Reform of 2015: why then and not earlier?

“…Sport in China has experienced a significant transition as a result of the challenges of professionalisation and commercialisation and the government's ambition for international sporting and Olympic success. The professionalisation of football in China started in 1994 and flagged the beginning of the Chinese sport sector's transition from the state-run sport system to a market-driven sport system (Tan and Bairner 2010). However, even though professional clubs and leagues were set up in accordance with the European football league system, the CFA, the national governing body of the leagues, was not an independent governing body as it was directly controlled by the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC) (Fan and Lu 2013).…”

“…The unbalanced institutional tension caused discontent and conflict between professional clubs and the CFA. It was evident that structural reform of the sport sector was necessary Lu 2013, Tan andBairner 2010;Yuan 2011). To address these problems, in March 2015, the Chinese government initiated a program for football reform which was characterised by a new public policy entitled The Overall Plan for Chinese Football Reform and Development (Chinese State Council 2015).…”

Chinese Olympic sport policy: Managing the impact of globalisation

“…However, as was noted previously and is argued below the evidence suggests that the approach of the Chinese government to managing engagement with the Olympic movement was broadly in line with its approach to other major international sports, such as football and basketball, whose interests and primary competition opportunities lie outside the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games (Tan, 2008;Houlihan, Tan, and Green, 2010;Tan and Bairner, 2010;Tan and Bairner, 2011).…”

“…federations (Peppard and Riordan, 1993;Riordan, 1981;Riordan, 1974;Morton, 1982;Cantelon and Gruneau, 1993). This strategy was similar to that adopted by the government in relation to elite level football (Tan, 2008;Tan and Bairner, 2010) and basketball (Tan, 2008;Houlihan, Tan, and Green, 2010;Tan and Bairner, 2011). In both these sports the interests of commercial clubs and the commercial interests of individual athletes were subordinated to those of the national team through controls over player movement and financial rewards.…”

The rise of sport in the Asia-Pacific region and a social scientific journey through Asian-Pacific sport

“…MLB teams hire talented Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese players, and EPL clubs employ Korean and Japanese footballers. While the Western transfer markets can offer these Asian 'aspirants' new career opportunities with lucrative commercial deals, it should be noted that some clubs simply purchase these sporting hopefuls as lures to entice cash-rich Asian investors and consumers (Tan and Bairner 2011). Meanwhile, this haemorrhaging of promising Asian athletes from their domestic leagues can lead to the problem of deskilling and dependent development.…”