China doesn’t need the World Cup. It has the ‘Village Super League’
The 'Village Super League' has become a massive amateur soccer phenomenon across rural China, serving as a grassroots alternative to the professional leagues. Local governments are supporting the movement to stimulate domestic consumption while fans embrace it as a clean alternative to the corruption-plagued professional soccer scene.
Why it matters
It highlights a shift in Chinese domestic culture and local economic development strategies amidst broader disillusionment with professional sports management.
Soccer players in red jerseys jump up and down, spraying their cheering teammates with champagne, as confetti and streamers cascade around them and crowds capture the jubilation on their phones. This isn’t Spain’s World Cup victory, clinched Sunday in New Jersey, but a win celebrated a day earlier, some 6,000 miles away, in Fuping county, a mountainous and rural part of northern China’s Hebei province, at a stadium lined with Communist Party slogans. This game is one of many taking place across the country, as teams battle for a place in the national “Village Super League” finals. The amateur tournament has become a phenomenon in China, attracting millions of spectators across the country – and making for a colorful alternative to the World Cup that hasn’t seen a Chinese men’s national team compete for more than two decades.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in