Time to kick off soccer sector reform

REFORM OF THE NATION'S SOCCER SECTOR has been a hot topic of the ongoing sessions of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, and Chinese People's Political Consultation Conference National Committee, the top political advisory body. Comments:

Not only the sports administration, but also the education department, should be blamed for the failure of the national soccer team. The former, which values nothing but gold medals, has always been cold toward soccer, which will only return success in the long term; the latter pays more attention to students' academic performance and so it neglects soccer. The national soccer reform plan will bridge the bureaucracies relevant to development of the sport, thus preventing them from passing the buck.

163.com, March 11

Why do the authorities choose soccer for reform first? Because it is the first sport in the country to go professional. Its reform experiences will offer precious lessons for other sports. We hope the soccer officials do not upset their colleagues.

Ji'nan Daily, March 11

The sport of basketball shares many similarities with soccer in China, so if the latter achieves success that would help the former; I hope the basketball sector can have a similar reform plan in the near future... Concerning soccer, we need to work out how to spend the money more efficiently and more reasonably.

Yao Ming, retired basketball star and a CPPCC National Committee member, March 9

The domestic soccer league matches rely too heavily on sponsorship and hardly derive any profits from the televizing of matches. The reform plan will commercialize these matches, and allow clubs to take a bigger share of the profits, which is a positive move. Besides, the commercial running of soccer pitches, the soccer lottery and other derivatives will also expand to help the sport support itself.

cnstock.com, March 9