Opinion | Why has China’s global soccer takeover frenzy suddenly gone so quiet?
After a flurry of activity and spending, China’s expansion into global football has gone strangely quiet – but that doesn’t mean the game is over
Unlike the hysteria and hyperbole of recent years, during which speculation about which player would next head to China has often been rife (if not wild), we now seem to be in a period of silence. Critics and cynics alike will no doubt be congratulating themselves on calling this one right: that China’s spending spree would not last long.
At this point though, it is worthwhile recalling the words of American writer Elbert Green Hubbard: “He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.”
From the point in 2009 when China’s president Xi Jinping first expressed positive personal views on the sport, the global football community has repeatedly failed to understand his and his country’s words.
Xi’s 2014 proclamation of his football vision, and subsequent interventions into football by the Chinese authorities, have drawn perplexed commentaries from observers seeking to understand and find meaning in China’s football revolution. Even as recently as this year, the hype associated with new player transfer regulations seemingly baffled many people. And as Hubbard’s quote suggests, observers are equally now failing to understand the silence.
