Empty Stadiums a sign of China's fading football dream

China’s relinquishing of its hosting rights for the 202s AFC Asian Cup is likely to result in new football stadiums built for the tournament standing empty.

Seen as part of a long term plan for the nation to host the FIFA World Cup in the 2030, a project driven by China’s President Xi Jinping, cities across the country have sunk massive amounts of money to build eight new stadiums and renovate two others for the now abandoned Asian Cup next year.

However, with China sticking to its rigid zero-Covid policy and its biggest city, Shanghai, only just now tentatively emerging from a lengthy lockdown, the Asian Cup now numbers among a number of events being cancelled or postponed in the world’s most populous nation.

Simon Chadwick, Director of the Centre for the Eurasian Sport Industry at Emlyon Business School, stated “the Asian Cup was simply the prelude to a men's World Cup bid.”

In addition, as Agence France-Presse reports, Chinese Super League is waiting to start the new season and when it does looks certain to take place at closed neutral venues because of Covid.

Nonetheless, China has turned to big-ticket infrastructure projects to drive its pandemic-stricken economy with new sporting venues was part of that plan.

Some, like the futuristic 60,000-seater Egret Stadium in the coastal city of Xiamen, are springing up in cities which do not have a top-tier football team to call the venue home.

Beijing-based sports consultant William Bi told Agence France-Presse “the ones in relatively smaller cities like Xiamen or in cities where there are (existing) stadiums like Xi'an... are more liable to be white elephants.

"As the economy is backsliding there is little chance for splashing money to build a club that deserves a giant stadium."

Developers have added facilities that will allow the new stadiums to double up as concert venues, but China's strict Covid restrictions have killed the live-entertainment industry along with the football.

Chadwick warned that China is already struggling to re-use other major sporting venues built in recent years, adding “when resources are scarce this is an incredibly wasteful and sub-optimal way of planning.”

About a dozen of the 18 teams supposed to be playing in the CSL this year are backed by real estate companies - but a cooling economy has left many developers scrambling to repay loans.

The local government took away a US$1.86 billion stadium construction project from floundering developer Evergrande, which owns former Asian champions Guangzhou FC, Chinese media group Caixin reported in March.

The Guangzhou Evergrande stadium was initially planned to have a capacity of 100,000 and a striking lotus flower-shaped design, although the end product will see the bold idea somewhat scaled back.

Chadwick noted "investment in football was politically expedient on the part of developers as it helped cultivate strong relationships with the state.

"What this recent turbulent period appears to have done ... is to cut the cord between football and property development, raising questions about the future of Chinese football."

Football-fan President Xi's dreams of turning the nation into a powerhouse of the sport capable of staging and even winning a men's World Cup have faded markedly over the last few years.

The country’s ambitions to be a global sporting hub have also been crushed, at least in the short term, by its hardline Covid strategy.

With the exception of this year's Winter Olympics, held in a virus-secure Beijing ‘bubble’ in February, China has cancelled or postponed almost all international sports events since Covid emerged in Wuhan in late 2019.

The Asian Games, due to be staged in September in Hangzhou, were postponed earlier this month. It is unclear when China will host an expanded football Club World Cup - it was supposed to be last year.

Bi went on to say "China's reputation as a reliable sporting event host has been damaged.”

With Agence France-Presse.

Image: Concept for the Xian International Football Centre. Credit: Negativ.