China has decided to remove TV coverage of their top
league due to excessive pitch violence which turns football matches
into impromptu martial arts competitions. So CCTV, China’s gov’t
television, will be showing more games from top European
competitions - the English FA is already salivating - in lieu of
their domestic league.
Let’s look at this from another angle: Football + Random acts of
violence = ratings gold. So what’s the problem?
Of course there’s the whole issue of “quality” and “appearances”.
Plus China, on the back of the Beijing games, is hoping for a crack
at hosting either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup (makes so much sense
now). So while they try to fix this stuff internally, they’re going
to sweep everything under the rug and pretend like it’s not there.
Kind of like that kid who’s sent to military school.
His opinion was challenged by a recent headline in the
Beijing Evening News, which asked: “When will Chinese football stop
bringing shame?” The China News Agency likened Super League games
to “a Kungfu movie” and some players to “martial arts
heroes.”
“The state of Chinese football at the moment makes everyone
feel bitter,” Jiang told the Titan sports newspaper. “If it goes on
like this, it’s in danger of being thoroughly destroyed.”