Tibetan soccer searches for a level playing field

Off the ball

Two of the biggest hurdles Tibetan soccer has to overcome are other teams' unwillingness to play at high altitude and lack of financial support. Established in 2017 with the financial backing of the Lhasa Chengtou Urban City Construction Company, the Lhasa Chengtou FC was briefly the region's only professional football club.

At the end of 2018, the club was admitted to the Chinese Football Association League 2, a third-tier competition, and made its debut the following season.

However, according to a statement released by the club in May, Lhasa Chengtou has been dissolved, mainly due to a dispute between the CFA and the club over where its home matches will be played.

Lhasa Chengtou had been trying to locate its home games in Lhasa or Nyingchi, where the average altitudes are between 3,000 meters and 3,600 meters.

Tenzin Wangdu, Lhasa Chengtou's captain, said the CFA's main concern was that players from other provinces and regions may face health risks at an altitude of 3,650 meters, where the oxygen level is 60 percent less than sea level.

"We think Nyingchi, a city in the eastern part of the region where the average altitude is around 3,000 meters, could have been our home field. The football club in Lijiang, Yunnan province, is located at 3,000 meters and they have been allowed to play in national games," he said.

Tenzin Wangdu said the players' enthusiasm for the game remains, and they now compete against Tibetan teams. However, financial investment is needed if the region is to ever have a viable professional team.

"Altitude and facilities are not the only factors," he said.

"There is a skill gap between the region's players and the players from other provinces. Also, it's not convenient for us to exchange skills with players from other provinces, because Tibet is so remote and the cost of travel so high."

Tenzin Wangdu said it's not the first time a Tibetan side has struggled to fit into an outside competition. Between 1987 and 2020, Tibetan teams were ejected four times for various reasons, but the main factor was lack of financial support, he said. "Tibet is the only provincial-level region in China without a professional soccer team," Tenzin Wangdu said.

"For the integrity of Chinese soccer, a professional club from the region is indispensable."