On May 14, a piece of news about the national football team was like a bolt from the blue, shaking all those who pay attention to Chinese soccer. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) gave up the right to host the 2023 Asian Cup, a decision that was shocking but reasonable. Public opinion generally regarded it as positive news, because our people dared to make such a decision, showing the courage to retreat from the current and the overall situation, as well as the courage to say "no" to the world. However, this decision has also brought some negative impacts, at least in the next 20 years, China is afraid that we can not apply to AFC to host the Asian Cup.
The country last hosted the Asian Cup in 2004. If the 2023 Asian Cup is held in the territory as planned, it will be the country's second time hosting the tournament after 19 years. Now, the withdrawal of our countrymen has undoubtedly created a dilemma for the AFC, who have to find a new host country in just a few months, leaving them little time left for preparations. Although the possibility of changing the time of the tournament cannot be ruled out, once the venue is changed, it will be difficult to alter the time.
The AFC, although dominated by West Asians, agreed to our withdrawal application, which may mean that they already have a candidate in mind to take over the country.Qatar, which will be hosting the World Cup at the end of 2022, is likely to be the next organizer, or it may be co-hosted by a few West Asian countries. The epidemic has forced many tournaments to change locations over the past two years, and they have all been arranged in West Asia. Therefore, the AFC is not worried about finding the next home, but will certainly be resentful of our country, the future of the national football team in the Asian tournament may face more difficulties.
Our withdrawal was mainly due to the epidemic. The Asian Cup is not a closed event and is no less difficult than the Beijing Winter Olympics, involving more cities and a wider geographical area. Originally scheduled for June 16 to July 16, 2023, the Asian Cup will be held in 10 cities - Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen and Suzhou - which have a population of more than 150 million people and are spread out over an area as wide as the size of Europe's territories except for Russia.
If we continue as planned, not only will we turn half of China into a controlled area, but given the current situation, the tournament may not be fully open to spectators. Then, a tournament without spectators would not be much different from overseas and in our hometown. It is undoubtedly a wise move for our country to give up hosting it. Our country no longer needs to use large-scale events to show off its national image, and we are more concerned about people's livelihood. If we must use world competitions in sports as a benchmark, then soccer must come last, which leads to another question: will the national soccer team play at home or overseas?
Now, the national soccer team's only home field advantage has been lost. However, this is no longer a big deal to our fans, and no one with a clear head in the whole of China is going to hold out too much hope for the national soccer team. If they are destined to lose, then losing farther away will save them a lot of trouble. Li Tie had said some nonsense at the conference about how hard it is to be on the national team overseas ...... how the average person understands the importance of the home field to our team ...... Now there is no chance to verify whether what he said makes sense or not, the national football team is better to come back sooner rather than later.
In addition, we were seeded as the hosts of the tournament within our borders. But now there is no host status, the AFC still "gift" to our team to participate in a quota, but this white whoring from the quota will be downgraded. The national football team in the Asian ranking barely into the top ten, so the best grouping can only be ranked in the second gear.
The only tricky issue now is the stadiums that are under construction. With no major tournaments in recent years, these stadiums were previously tasked with securing the Asian Cup. In particular, stadiums like the Workers' Stadium, one of the capital's top ten landmarks, which was supposed to be kicking off with an Asian Cup event after it was pushed back and rebuilt in 2020, has suddenly lost its purpose now that it's nearly completed. Ten cities, ten soccer stadiums, two of the new ones and two of the renovated ones have already been completed. Those stadiums under construction are likely to be half-assed projects.
Giving up the right to organize proves that my country no longer needs to build an international image for itself with major sporting events. Our people need a healthy and safe living environment. In addition, the national soccer team will certainly not bring happiness to our people. Therefore, cutting off this piece of heart disease of our countrymen will be a righteous move by any department.
