China turns to youth development

– China must start developing its own players instead of splashing out on foreign talent if it wants to become a football superpower, according to the head of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s sports arm.

“The biggest problem is that we have not established a youth training system, so Chinese athletes have not been able to improve at the same level as international athletes,” Alisports CEO Zhang Dazhong told AFP.

“We can only buy athletes from abroad to sustain our prosperity, but this sort of prosperity cannot be continued. We must learn from Europe, and train our own young players. This is the basis of our development,” he added.

Alibaba owns almost 40% of China’s most successful club, Guangzhou Evergrande, winners of the Chinese Super League for the previous seven seasons and Asian Champions League champions in 2013 and 2015.

Alibaba is China’s dominant player in online commerce. The company, often compared to US giants Amazon and eBay, has expanded outside its core e-commerce business into sectors ranging from sport to entertainment.

China, encouraged by President Xi Jinping, has splashed out to develop the sport in the country.

China is also forging partnerships with clubs and football associations across the globe to help drag up the level of Chinese youth players.

Dutch football giants Ajax this week announced a five-year partnership with Guangzhou R&F that will try and build the best youth academy in China. – AFP