The General Administration and the Football Association have conducted intensive research! Chinese football, winter is still a hot land

Chief reporter Chen Yong reports Winter has arrived, and at the end of the year, the league and the AFC Champions League have ended the 2024 season, and the three major ball games and other events have also dissipated. However, in this winter, the General Administration of Sports of China and the Chinese Football Association are still intensively visiting, researching and discussing, brewing a comprehensive effort at multiple levels such as the national team, youth training, professional leagues and key cities.

From December 3rd to 5th, Zhang Jiasheng, deputy director of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China and secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Football Association, led a team to Meizhou, a key city for national football development and a pilot city for the construction of a football youth training system integrating sports and education in the western region.

Zhang Jiasheng affirmed the development of Meizhou football, and pointed out that it is necessary to thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on sports and important instructions on football work, and resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the General Secretary and the Party Central Committee; Fully implement the "Overall Plan for the Reform and Development of Chinese Football" and the "Implementation Opinions on the Reform and Development of Chinese Youth Football" to create a model for the development of Chinese football characteristics; It is necessary to insist on putting the development of youth football in the first place, follow the law of football development and talent growth, embark on a youth training road with Chinese characteristics and Meizhou characteristics, and strive to cultivate more football talents with international competitiveness.

▲Zhang Jiasheng conducted research in Meizhou (courtesy of Meizhou Football Association)

For more than a month, Zhang Jiasheng has been conducting research in various places: on October 30, Zhang Jiasheng conducted research in Neijiang; On November 23, Zhang Jiasheng conducted research in Wenzhou. Earlier, Zhang Jiasheng conducted research in professional clubs such as Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua, as well as more regions and cities.

Song Kai, chairman of the Chinese Football Association, flew to Kunming on December 4 to visit the U16 national team that was training at the Haigeng base, and on the 6th, Song Kai flew from Kunming to Haikou to visit the U21 national team training at the Mission Hills base. Different from the past, Song Kai took the way of following the team around the clock: from the morning, he got up with the team, did simple stretching after getting up, ate breakfast together, watched the morning training and always paid attention to the training content and training volume. After lunch, he also participated in the targeted and personalized communication between the coaching staff and the players, participated in the video analysis meeting of the coaching staff, watched the afternoon training, and participated in the video analysis meeting in the evening, where the players were also divided into groups. During this period, Song Kai also took the time to communicate with the coaching staff and players individually.

On the evening of the 7th, before participating in the video analysis meeting of the U21 national team, Song Kai had a relaxed communication and exchange with the coaches of the U21 League, conveyed the ideas on football development at the national level, the General Administration of Sports and the Chinese Football Association, and also listened to the opinions of the coaches. Prior to this, Song Kai had traveled to Zhuhai to have a whole day of discussions with the coaches of the U17 League.

▲Song Kai talks to the coach of the U17 League

Not only the General Administration of Sports of China and the Chinese Football Association, but also all other levels are conducting comprehensive investigations. In this winter, Chinese football is still a hot land.

At present, on the basis of stability and non-tossing, and in the direction of openness and internationalization, all the work of Chinese football is being fully promoted. In terms of the overall operation mechanism, the central government and the state have made overall planning, the General Administration and the Football Association have promoted the implementation, and promoted the great attention of local party committees and governments; In terms of the national team, the management mechanism of the "General Administration-Football Association-Club" and the "Football Association-Coaching Staff-Players" of the big national team has achieved initial results and has been gradually promoted in the national teams at all levels; In terms of youth training, it attaches great importance to the construction of elite youth training and professional club youth training, comprehensively improves the quality of training, and focuses on creating high-quality competitions; In terms of professional clubs, the Chinese Football Federation is preparing and will be formally established soon, the operation mechanism of the Chinese Football Federation will also be optimized, and the separation of management and the maintenance of club rights and interests are also important issues; In terms of key cities, the construction of key cities has truly entered the fast lane after the Shanghai Conference; At the level of campus football, relevant parties are also making every effort to promote relevant work and make every effort to support the development of Chinese football.

At present, there are still some difficulties in Chinese football, the core difficulty is the share reform of professional clubs, including the management of arrears of wages, and the business development of professional leagues, in addition to the coordination of youth competitions also needs to be further improved, and how to maintain consistency in the process of promoting the development of football is also very important.