China in ‘bubble’ warning as spending tops US$1 billion

BEIJING: China’s state media warned a “bubble” had developed in Chinese football on Friday after spending topped US$ 1 billion this year and rumours swirled of yet more big-money signings.

Chelsea’s Oscar and Argentine forward Carlos Tevez were the latest players linked with the deeppocketed Chinese Super League this week as clubs look set to extend their lavish spree.

Meanwhile, London media reported that Hebei China Fortune coach Manuel Pellegrini is offering fellow Chilean Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal a lucrative move to the club he now manages.

The influential People’s Daily urged clubs to control their “headstrong” spending, which follows official decrees that China should become a global football superpower.

While there is “no reason to restrict capital” in the Super League, clubs must have focus and discipline on spending for the sake of their own long-term health, an article in the Communist Party mouthpiece said.

It said 8 billion yuan ( US$ 1.15 bln) had been spent in 2016, a sum which “far exceeded the economic value brought to the league”. The explosive growth in football investments is a “bubble” given the slower growth in ticket and licensed product sales, the article added.

Chinese firms have spent freely this year on foreign football clubs, players, and broadcasting rights in an effort to diversify their businesses and aid Chinese President Xi Jinping’s dream of making China into a global centre of gravity for the sport.

Xi is a known football fan and in 2011 – when he was still vicepresident – he laid out three hopes for China’s soccer future: to qualify for another World Cup, to host a World Cup and to win a World Cup.

Chinese Super League clubs smashed the Asian record four times in the January-February window, and they have spent more than US$ 400 million on players overall this year. — AFP