Wave of nostalgia for ‘good old days’ of Chinese soccer

Der Kaiser, German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, passed away at 78 in Munich on Sunday. A versatile player, Beckenbauer, whose career lasted from 1959 to 1983, started out as a midfielder, but made his name as a central defender. He worked as a coach from 1984 to 1996.

Although Beckenbauer spent most of his career as player and coach in Germany, his influence was global. One of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the European Champions Cup, and the Ballon d’Or, he is credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper (libero).

His passing has triggered a wave of nostalgia among many Chinese soccer fans about the “good old days” when they would watch soccer matches together on the only small black-and-white TV in their neighborhood in a crowded room in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as Chinese soccer at that time, when it was still regarded as a formidable football power in Asia.

Another important reason why the Chinese people cherish that memory is the Chinese soccer players then valued their jobs and took it as great honor to play for the national team, and the game was not tainted by corruption as it is today.

After China established its professional leagues in the 1990s to try and replace the former Stateowned soccer system with one funded by enterprises and private businesses, and run by professional managers and associations, corruption started sweeping through the whole system.

As indicated by some cases related to soccer corruption that the discipline watchdog departments have recently released, in the process, some players, coaches and referees have become active brokers between soccer officials and bribers both speculating on the huge popularity of the sport in the country with a soccer fan body of nearly 300 million.

There have been at least three waves of anti-graft campaigns in the Chinese soccer circle since the late 1990s. But it seems that they have only served to make vacancies for newcomers. The Chinese men’s national team today is doubtlessly a third-rater in Asia.

If the soccer system of China is not effectively reformed, the sport will continue to be a hotbed of corruption ceaselessly exploiting the appeal of the sport and the fans’ passion for it. Allowing that to happen time and again only damages the credibility of the relevant departments.

— LI YANG, CHINA DAILY