China's failing footballers forced to attend 'patriotism education' classes
One of China's top football clubs has vowed to "crackdown on sloth" among its players with a slew of new measures including forcing underperforming stars to attend "patriotism education" classes.
Zhao Xuri of Evergrande shoots for goal during the AFC Asian Champions League match between the Central Coast Mariners and Guangzhou Evergrande at Bluetongue Stadium on May 15, 2013 in Gosford, Australia. Photo: GETTY
By Tom Phillips, Shanghai
10:26AM BST 12 Jul 2013
Guangzhou Evergrande, which has won China's Super League twice, announced the new sanctions on Thursday, following China's humiliating 5-1 drubbing last month at the hands of Thailand.
Club chairman Xu Jiayin told reporters the national team's dismal performance, which involved several Evergrande players, could not be allowed to happen again.
"The result was beyond endurance," state media quoted Mr Xu as saying. "It is a humiliating loss, for all Chinese soccer players and Chinese people for players' lack of fighting spirit."
Under the club's new rules players will be "severely punished" if they are found guilty of playing "passively" during an international match.
Those dropped from the Chinese squad for putting in bad performances will be fined 200,000 yuan (£21,500) while players who break team rules will face both suspension and the prospect of being banished to a "closed compound" for a month of compulsory "patriotism education".
"We need to improve the sense of representing the national team. Only when the national team achieves better results can we say Chinese soccer has developed to a higher level," said Mr Xu.
Cameron Wilson, who runs a blog on China's not-so-beautiful game called Wild East Football, said the defeat to Thailand had been a "frighteningly bad result even by China's very low standards." But Guangzhou Evergrande's "old school, Communist rules" were unlikely to solve China's on-the-pitch problems.
Blaming the team's poor form on a lack of patriotism was "very simplistic," added Shanghai-based Wilson, who said part of the problem was the "completely unrealistic" expectations placed on Chinese footballers by the general public.
"Chinese people have found their football team to be an embarrassment for a long time now and that is quite a serious handicap [for the players]." Chinese players were now playing with "massive, massive millstones around their necks," he said.
An opinion piece in Friday's China Daily rounded on China's Football Association, the CFA, slamming the "shameful" thrashing against Thailand.
"Chinese soccer fans are the most tolerant in the world," the author argued.
