[Independent media report]The Chinese national football team did not perform well in this Asian Cup and will have a life-or-death battle with Qatar tonight to try to advance to the knockout rounds. Ma Dexing, a well-known sports reporter in the mainland, covered the Asian Cup finals week for the seventh time. It can be said that he witnessed the rise and fall of Chinese football. Ma Dexing accepted an interview with “Independent Media” and said that the problems of Chinese football are a microcosm of society. Not only do decision-makers not understand football, they also think football too simply: “China often reports a number, how good it is, how good the growth is, and it is too big. , but these things cannot pass real tests. You can’t boast about football. Why? You have to compare it with others, and do it with real swords and guns.”
“Independent Media” reporters Mai Magao and Zhou Songqian directly reported on Qatar
In the media center located in Doha’s business district, a middle-aged man wearing a hat sits in a corner every day, always working in silence. He is Ma Dexing. Most football reporters in Hong Kong have always seen Ma Dexing’s Weibo posts. Before the start of the press conference for the first national football match, a foreign media reporter went out of his way to shake hands with Ma Dexing and say hello, and a mainland reporter who respectfully called him “Teacher Ma” also took a selfie with him.
Ma Dexing, 54, is the deputy editor-in-chief of “Sports Weekly”. Since joining the industry in 1990, he has traveled half the world with the national football team. The first event he interviewed the national football team was the Dynasty Cup, the predecessor of the East Asian Football Championship.
Ma Dexing: I knew before I came out that my results would definitely not be very good.
Ma Dexing never thought of turning sports journalism into a lifelong career. The National Football Youth Team won the Asian Youth Championship in 1985. The team included Gao Hongbo, Fu Bo and other players who later became famous national football players. This can be said to be his football enlightenment: “Just like everyone is chasing Son Heung-min and Sam Zhanxun now, but we in China just haven’t cultivated local stars.” He said with a smile that he is older now and can no longer change careers.
This year is Ma Dexing’s seventh time interviewing for the Asian Cup. He said that he still had expectations for the national football team in the past, but now he is not in much mood. It is just a job: “I knew before I came out that the results would definitely not be very good.”
After following the national football team for many years, the team has been reduced to a third-tier team in Asia in recent years. This year, it failed to win against Tajikistan and Lebanon. How uncomfortable must it be? Ma Dexing said that this is something that cannot be changed: “Because we are not decision-makers, sometimes you know clearly that the policy is wrong, but you can’t do anything about it. Because others will not listen to you when they make decisions. You know clearly that these decisions are wrong. Yes, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Satirizes the prevailing culture of bragging in China, but those who actually work are criticized
Ma Dexing believes that the core problem of Chinese football is that the decision-makers do not understand football, which has led to the current nondescript situation. He laments the prevailing culture of bragging in the country, but football is “real life”: “They think football is too simple. , this is the most terrifying thing.” He mentioned that when “acting with real swords and guns”, the people who really did the work were criticized, and he felt very sad, disappointed and desperate.
“In China, we often report how good a number is and how good the growth is. It’s too big, but this thing cannot pass real tests. You can’t boast about football. Why? You have to compare it with others. And it’s real work. Unlike in China now, where you can brag and show numbers… You feel that every aspect of the country is developing, but only Chinese football has not developed. Everyone is used to bragging. People who want to do something , but became a miserable person.”
Questioning that professionalism is on the wrong track and the country should take the lead in cultivating young players
The Chinese Football Association held the “Hongshankou Conference” in 1992. At the meeting, it was proposed to regard football as the key to sports reform and establish the reform direction for Chinese football to embark on the road of professionalization. However, Ma Dexing pointed out that they took the wrong path from the beginning: “They didn’t understand what professionalism was from the beginning. As a result, after 30 years of walking, they still haven’t understood what happened.”
Ma Dexing explained that the government should play an important role in Chinese football, including taking the lead in training young players: “Everyone understands China’s affairs. Everything must be led by the government. Chinese football currently does not match the country as a whole and society. He believes that training young players is not only a part of education, but also an obligation and responsibility that the country and the government must bear: “Do you expect a private football school, or a company to open a football school, and football can turn around? Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse? You’re kidding ?”
Ma Dexing: It is sad that the officials did not reflect on arresting people and shifting the responsibility
Several former senior officials of the Chinese Football Association were arrested for corruption earlier and confessed in CCTV documentaries, including Du Zhaocai, the former deputy director of the State Sports General Administration and former party secretary of the Chinese Football Association, Chen Xuyuan, chairman of the Football Association, and Li Tie, the head coach of the national football team.
Ma Dexing believes that it is actually very sad. Not only did the officials fail to reflect on their responsibilities in Chinese football, they also passed the responsibility on to others: “It seems that if they arrest them, they can make Chinese football better. This was the case ten years ago, and they will arrest another person ten years later. batch.”
When asked about the most unforgettable session, Ma Dexing’s answer was that the national football team had the best results, which was the 2004 tournament hosted in China and won the runner-up. Ma Dexing still remembers that a Japanese player committed a handball in the final, but the referee did not whistle the penalty. This year’s tournament was originally held in China, but due to the new crown epidemic, it was moved to Qatar. Ma Dexing said with a wry smile: “What can we do? It’s not something we ordinary people can decide, it’s the people above. But it’s clear that the Chinese Football Association can’t do it at this level. This decision, but the responsibility must be shouldered by the Chinese Football Association.”
Over the years, the national football team has become the traffic password of the Internet. Ma Dexing was a little excited when he said it, criticizing the media for playing a disgraceful role in the professionalization of Chinese football for more than 30 years: “The more negative things are said, the more people will watch. But can it be done in other fields? Do they dare to talk about education issues and people’s livelihood issues? They don’t dare! But in football, they can talk about it without restraint.”
Criticize self-media for spreading rumors and irresponsibly accelerating chaos in Chinese football
The national football team was forced to face Lebanon. At the post-match press conference, the team’s translator Gu Jiangmin failed to provide instant interpretation for a speech that lasted about 2 minutes and 45 seconds for head coach Ngaoyu, causing an uproar and self-media speculation. Ma Dexing believes that the self-media’s out-of-context and random rumors are one of the reasons for accelerating the chaos in Chinese football, which has now reached the point of getting out of control: “It’s not that we need to control it, but the self-media is rampant and makes irresponsible remarks like this. Which country would allow it? Is this irresponsible and groundless? But it’s okay in China.”
In an era when print media was still mainstream, Ma Dexing pointed out that even if there was a typo, he would be held accountable. He said forcefully that self-media is a commercial platform, and its purpose is to make profits, which is obviously different from the fact reported by the media: “What can attract attention, what can get traffic, it is just yelling and nonsense. As a government, why don’t we take care of it?” ? As a media outlet, I must be responsible when I write an article. Commercial platforms can talk nonsense at will, but they can take responsibility for their articles. It has nothing to do with the platform. What kind of logic is this?”
Ma Dexing: China’s football problems are a microcosm of society, lamenting the loss of players from the national football team
“What Chinese football needs to change is not Chinese football itself. The first thing that needs to change is the Chinese football environment. Because the environment creates people, what kind of environment there is will be what kind of football.” Ma Dexing concluded that the problems of Chinese football are a microcosm of society: “That’s all I can say, I hope you understand.”
In 2000, when national football players Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai moved to the English League One team Crystal Palace, Ma Dexing went to the UK to interview them. He said that the interview at that time was very touching. However, in recent years, the number of Chinese players leaving Europe has been reduced. Ma Dexing mentioned that around 2000, the number of Chinese players leaving the country was the largest in East Asia. From Li Jinyu, Zhang Enhua, Yang Chen to Xie Hui, the number of players leaving Japan and South Korea after 20 years has surpassed that of China: “Everyone is leaving. We are all coming back.”
It is alleged that Evergrande officials and businessmen colluded to receive a letter from lawyers, and the collapse of Jinyuan Football is an inevitable result
When talking about Chinese football, we have to talk about Jinyuan Football. CCTV aired an anti-corruption documentary earlier, saying that the investigation found that there were wealthy football clubs, which promoted the Jinyuan football atmosphere and were an important catalyst for the deterioration of the Chinese football atmosphere. It also named Hebei China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd. as following Guangzhou Evergrande’s example of “burning money.” Strive to achieve good results in the short term.
Ma Dexing believes that the biggest problem of Jinyuan Football is the collusion between officials and businessmen, and collapse is the inevitable result: “It is problematic to talk about Evergrande without talking about officials. Everything is complementary to each other.” He has put forward this argument long ago and has publicly stated Criticizing Guangzhou Evergrande for colluding with government officials and businessmen, Evergrande has received countless letters from lawyers over the years: “If the officials don’t protect them, can they stand up? I’m referring to the football field, not to mention other things.”
Calling on Hong Kong players to emigrate and naturalize. Enough is enough.
In the interview, “Independent Media” talked with Ma Dexing about Hong Kong football. He believed that there are many similarities with the mainland. Ma Dexing pointed out that Hong Kong players have tried to leave overseas for two times, but the destination should not be the Chinese Super League or the Chinese League One: “It’s not that I don’t support going to the Chinese Super League, but compared with other places, the level is not very high. I have to go to Japan and South Korea, but I can’t go to J1, K1, then J3 and K3 can also be used.” He believes that the Hong Kong team has indeed made progress in recent years. Last year, the Hangzhou Asian Games witnessed the Hong Kong team reaching the semi-finals: “But the naturalized players are enough. We still need to develop the football population.”
In addition, Ma Dexing also disapproved of the national football team’s recruitment of naturalized soldiers from Brazil such as Ajie Chen and Luo Guofu, believing that they are just mercenaries: “You have been in China for so many years and you can’t speak Chinese. This is unnecessary.”
Ma Dexing analyzed that Malaysia’s naturalized players are looking for work in local leagues, and their level is declining. On the other hand, naturalized players from Indonesia and Iraq are playing overseas: “More players from China and Hong Kong need to go abroad. In terms of domestication, local league players should not be naturalized. If their level is not high, overseas players should be naturalized; Jiang Guangtai and Li Ke were also assimilated after they came back.”
A message to future generations to be themselves Ma Dexing: Don’t follow the crowd
In an era when the Internet is popularized and self-media is popular, it is no longer meaningful to just report the scores of sports events. So how should sports reporters deal with themselves? Ma Dexing believes that it is too difficult to be a good reporter now, and he urges future generations to do their best first: “Don’t follow the crowd, do it as a career, not as a way of life.”
The Asia Cup interview expenses of “Independent Media” were sponsored by more than 130 enthusiastic readers.Troubled Spring and Autumn Period Title sponsorship ⚽️🇭🇰, and Footstop buy wavefei sponsor
2024-01-21 19:16:17
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