Behind Song Kai's "Open Letter to Former National Team Players": National Strategy Support, 29 Months Focused on Youth Training

【A Handwritten Letter, Mobilizing the Entire Industry】 On March 24, Chinese Football Association President Song Kai issued an open letter, urging retired national team players to commit to youth training to solidify the foundation of Chinese football. The letter sparked lively discussions among media and fans. While praising Song Kai's efforts to rapidly develop China's youth training system, discussions also focused on the timing of the letter's release. Furthermore, to encourage all retired national team players to participate in Chinese football youth training, what supporting policies and measures should the Chinese Football Association implement? This newspaper conducted a detailed investigation and analysis on this matter.

Report by Journalist Chen Yong Since assuming the role of Chinese Football Association President in October 2023, aside from working at the CFA office, Song Kai has most frequently appeared at youth training bases or youth match venues, followed by various national team levels. Additionally, over the past 29 months, Song Kai has consistently engaged in football diplomacy. Currently, China has a certain possibility of hosting the 2026 U17 Asian Cup, affected by the Middle East situation.

In fact, Song Kai's call for former national team players to engage in youth training was not impulsive. The letter's conception took over a year; Song Kai had a formed idea as early as January 2025, and after a year of research and deliberation, it was officially issued.

Behind this letter lies the CFA's work model prioritizing youth football, set against the broader backdrop of the national strategy over the past four years to reshape China's football youth training system and achieve the revitalization and development of Chinese football.

On October 16, 2023, Song Kai became President of the Chinese Football Association. His first trip after taking office was related to youth training: on October 22, he went to Weifang to watch the second match of the U15 group final in the Youth League. Before the match, he convened a meeting with youth training heads from恒大足校 and鲁能足校. Watching youth matches and meeting with youth coaches became one of his main work modes thereafter.

In the last three months of 2024, Song Kai consistently worked and researched on the front lines, mostly focusing on youth football: during a late October visit to Haikou to watch U17 league matches and hold discussions, he stated that focusing on high-quality matches is the trend and the direction for Chinese youth football efforts; the coaches' open discussions provided many insights for the CFA. In December, Song Kai全天候跟踪考察调研 the U16 and U21 national teams in Kunming and Haikou. In Haikou, he organized discussions with U21 league coaches. Later, Song Kai went to Shanghai to attend the 2024 Chinese Football Association Coaches Conference.

In fact, the entire Chinese Football Association has also been working on the front lines.同样在2024年最后三个月: Deputy Director of the National Sports总局 and CFA党委书记张家胜 visited内江,温州, and梅州等地 for调研, and held discussions with professional clubs like山东泰山 and上海申花.

On December 17, 2024, at the "Retracing the Long March – 2024 Chinese Football Development Seminar" jointly organized by Football Newspaper and the Xi'an Sports Bureau, Song Kai delivered a专题演讲 titled "Several Thoughts on Chinese Football Development." Key thoughts included技术为王,抓实训练,抓牢青少年足球,建好竞赛体系,推动体教融合, and调动地方积极性. Song Kai stated that stability, avoiding折腾, openness, and internationalization are the development思路 for Chinese football.

That was Song Kai's first systematic and comprehensive阐述 of his development思路 for Chinese football, with the落脚点 mainly on youth football. At this meeting, Song Kai also proposed an设想: retired athletes should first engage in youth training before becoming professional coaches.

After that meeting, Song Kai formed a concrete idea. On January 4, 2025, Song Kai wrote the following text: titled "Rooted in Youth Training, Great Potential – An Open Letter to Former National Team Players," related ideas included:基础不牢,地动山摇;偶像的作用;中国足球不能输在起跑线上;不反对你们当网红,更希望你们成为青训的网红;足二代,可以承接你们的梦想;等等.

Song Kai did not immediately release this initial idea but underwent another year of调研 and一年 of酝酿,最终在March 24, 2026, he sent this open letter to the former national team players.

In this open letter, Song Kai明确提出 the following five points.

【The Current State of Chinese Football】 The gap in Chinese football is not in the成年队, but at the起点. Youth training is the根 of football, good coaches are the魂 of football. Chinese football must solve the人才断层 problem from the源头.

【The榜样作用 of National Team Players】 National team players are偶像 for children, their感召力 for kids,说服力 for parents, and引领力 for society are无可替代.

【流量与增量】 Hope you become网红 for youth training,基层的流量担当.流量用在青训 becomes正能量 and大增量 for Chinese football.

【CFA's保障】 The CFA will全力为大家搭建平台,完善保障,畅通渠道, enabling former national team players投身青训 to have舞台,尊严,回报, and荣光.

【传承 of火种】 Welcome you to带动家人,带动足二代投身足球事业. Your梦想需要有人接续; the火种 of Chinese football needs代代相传.

The current development strategy for Chinese football is very清晰: the核心目标是 achieving the振兴发展 of Chinese football. The指导思想 is发挥新型举国体制,遵循足球运动规律,要坚持有为政府和有效市场相结合; the战略突破口 is国家青训体系建设. On this basis, the振兴发展 of Chinese football covers高质量足球人才体系,训练体系,竞赛体系, and治理体系.

Specific工作方向 include 9层面:加快推进各级青训中心建设,深化体教融合,推动校园足球高质量发展,加强教练员队伍建设,扎实推进重点城市和西部体教融合“两个试点”,大力推动职业联赛健康发展,深化国际交流合作,普及发展社会足球,积极提升社会足球文化素养.

Among these 9层面,加强教练员队伍建设 is closely related to the other 8层面:五级青训中心需要优秀的教练员;体教融合及校园足球高质量发展更需要优秀的教练员;重点城市和西部试点, especially西部试点也急需优秀教练员;社会足球和足球文化,教练员毫无疑问必须发挥关键作用.

深化国际交流合作 also importantly involves教练员的培养. For example, from November 5 to 7, 2025, the "2025 Sino-British Professional Football Youth Training Exchange" jointly organized by中足联 and the英超联赛 focused on professional youth training exchange. From March 27 to 29,中足联 held the "Second Chinese Football Professional Club Healthy Development高级研修班" in西安, focusing on联赛 and职业俱乐部发展, complementing the professional youth training exchange.

The National Sports总局 and Chinese Football Association, aside from国字号球队建设, have consistently focused核心工作 on youth football, including完善足球青训体系,梳理和完善青少年竞赛体系, etc. Regarding教练员层面, a标志性的事件 is Zhou Haibin becoming the head coach of the 2011年龄段国家队.

Born in 1985, Zhou Haibin一度成为史上最年轻的国脚, reaching his career peak while playing abroad for荷兰埃因霍温. After retiring in 2020, he served as assistant coach for山东泰山队, winning a双冠王 with the team in 2021. At this time, Zhou Haibin chose a youth coaching role: in early 2022, he joined鲁能足校, taking charge of the 2007年龄段梯队. Over the subsequent 4 years, he led the team to win the 2022 U15 Youth League冠军, 2023 U17联赛冠军, 2024 U19 Youth League冠军, and 2025 U19联赛冠军.

Ultimately, the Chinese Football Association selected Zhou Haibin as head coach of the 2011年龄段国家队, currently建制序列 as the U15 national team. The first选拔集训 began in January this year, and the second集训 is currently underway. Notably, the previous three国少队 head coaches were foreign. This move by the CFA has a clear导向作用, corresponding to Song Kai's statement: the CFA will全力为大家搭建平台,完善保障,畅通渠道, allowing former national team players投身青训 to have舞台,尊严,回报, and荣光.

In fact, for a long period, the Chinese Football Association has consistently employed young retired national team players as训练员 or助理教练 in national teams. For example, Zhou Haibin served as a训练员 for the国青队, and韩鹏 served as a训练员 for the国少队 shortly after retiring. Currently, the国家队训练员 are刘健 and于汉超, the U23国家队助理教练 is于大宝, the U19国家队助理教练 is臧海利, the U17国家队助理教练 is曹阳, and the U16国家队助理教练 is李壮飞.

For retired national team players and retired athletes, management roles are one出路. However, given the current shortage of youth coaches in China, youth coaching positions are truly suitable for them. Accumulating experience in youth coaching roles can help them determine future发展方向. For China's retired national team players, the future holds广阔天地.