Song Kai, the new president of the Chinese Football Association: We must take youth training as a top priority
On the 22nd, the new president of the Chinese Football Association, Song Kai, came to Weifang, Shandong Province to watch the final of the second China Youth Football League men's U15 group and had a discussion with youth training and media representatives, which was his first public appearance as the president of the Football Association.
Regarding the work ideas of the new Chinese Football Association, Song Kai said that in the future, Chinese football should be determined to take the "long march road", regard youth training as a top priority, and enhance the competitiveness of Chinese football by expanding opening up, and ensure the reasonable and stable policies of the Chinese Football Association.
Song Kai, president of the Chinese Football Association (center), and Yuan Yongqing (right) and Xu Jiren, vice presidents of the Chinese Football Association, at the media forum
"Make youth training a top priority"
After taking office, he chose to inspect youth competitions for the first time, and the signal that Song Kai wanted to convey was very clear: "If football wants to be revitalized, the first thing is to grasp youth training." In the future, the Chinese Football Association should take youth training as a top priority. ”
Song Kai said that on the one hand, it is necessary to encourage high-level coaches to engage in youth training. "If the athletic performance is not good, it means that the training is not good. We don't have good coaches to do youth training, and the treatment of youth coaches is indeed very different from that of professional teams, which is a real problem and needs to be gradually changed. The Chinese Football Association should strive to guide the best coaches to grasp youth training through policies, regulations and guidance. ”
On the other hand, it is necessary to establish a high-level and stable youth competition system. "At the age of 12, Chinese players and Japanese and Korean players were on par, but by the age of 16, the gap was very large, which was mainly due to the gap in the competition system. Only by playing at a high level can players continue to grow. The problem with our competition system is that it is unstable, and the youth competition system must remain stable and can be reasonably improved, but the overall framework must remain unchanged. Song Kai said.
(Infographic) Young players playing on the field. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mi
Talking about what kind of youth training model Chinese football should adopt, Song Kai said: "At present, Chinese football youth training mainly includes different routes such as professional clubs, professional sports teams, social institutions and campus football, and the Chinese Football Association must first consolidate the base and hold the basic plate." It is unrealistic for Chinese football to completely return to the model of physical teams, but it can improve the enthusiasm of provinces and cities through the policy orientation of the National Games and increase the support of provinces and cities for football. Song Kai said.
On the basis of insisting on cultivating internal strength, Song Kai believes that the development of youth training also needs to rely on external forces. "With external forces, including inviting in, going out and naturalizing players, this can all be discussed. There is a gap between our understanding of youth training and that of developed football countries, so we must learn humbly. According to statistics, there are now 137 registered foreign teachers in China, and we must continue to improve the internationalization of youth coaches in the future. Youth leagues can also consider relaxing nationality restrictions and increasing networking opportunities. ”
On September 8, the East Asian Football Federation U15 Men's Football Championship, the Chinese team celebrated its victory at the award ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ziheng
In the East Asian Football Confederation U15 Men's Championship in September, China defeated Japan to win the championship. Song Kai said: "The U15 players really give us some hope, and in the 2034 World Cup they are playing the year, we have to grasp this age group. All parties have suggested bidding for the World Junior Championship and the World Youth Championship, and the Chinese Football Association is currently considering it, and we are also discussing this matter with FIFA. ”
"Chinese football can't be opened up"
In his inaugural speech on the 16th, Song Kai mentioned topics such as "more openness" and "docking with the AFC and easing foreign aid restrictions". At this media symposium, Song Kai explained that this is to force Chinese football to enhance its competitiveness by expanding opening up.
Song Kai believes that Chinese football has long been in a relatively closed environment, and there is a lack of competition among players. "Many industries have proven that only by fully competing in an open market can you produce products that offer cheap and good prices. Now the AFC is relaxing foreign aid restrictions, the Saudi league plans to increase the number of foreign aid places per team to 10, everyone else is open, Chinese football is not open. ”
"The long march of Chinese football requires players to walk together. How do you get the players on a long march? Education alone is not enough, but also competition and high elimination rates. By expanding opening up, Chinese players are forced to improve their level in competition. Song Kai said.
Regarding the problem that expanding opening up may lead to domestic players not being able to play football, which in turn affects the national team, Song Kai said frankly: "Many national leagues, including Spain, relaxed foreign aid policies, which caused great controversy in China at that time. In the process of expanding the opening up of Chinese football, there will definitely be pains, and the Chinese Football Association must maintain its determination. Domestic players can't play in the Chinese Super League and can go to the lower leagues. The policy can only be more open, not go back. ”
Song Kai also said that the Chinese Football Association should take steady steps to expand opening up. "We must not rush to introduce policies, we must spend a year for all parties to fully discuss, we must think things through clearly, and then implement them step by step."
"The Chinese Football Association can no longer introduce a 'bizarre' policy"
Song Kai said frankly that many policies of the Chinese Football Association were relatively casual, which caused harm to the development of Chinese football. "In the future, the Chinese Football Association can no longer introduce 'strange' policies such as 'national team playing league' and 'U23 player policy'. If the Chinese Football Association wants to come up with new policies, it must meet social expectations, which is my first bottom line during my term. ”
"The new Chinese Football Association has established a smoother communication channel and communication mechanism with the media. The truth is clearer and clearer, and the future policy of the Chinese Football Association hopes that the media will take the lead in discussing, and we will not introduce a policy that everyone disagrees with. Song Kai said.
Chinese women's football players Wang Shuang (left) and Zhang Xin train at the 2023 Women's World Cup Chinese Women's Football Base Camp at the Croatian Sports Center in Adelaide, Australia, on July 18. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo
Regarding the development of the national team, Song Kai said that the Chinese Football Association will adhere to the combination of "long-term meritorious service" and "only seizing the day", and improve the level of team management and construction as much as possible while basing itself on long-term development. "Although it is useless to rush the national team, we must build the national team at the existing level. The team may be able to play 120% if it is well managed, and only 60% if it is not well managed. ”
The Chinese women's football team will host the Paris Olympic qualifiers at the end of this month, and the Chinese men's football team will participate in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 USCAN-Mexico World Cup in mid-November. Regarding these two key tasks, Song Kai said: "We have recently strengthened the management of the Chinese women's football team, and overseas players have also been recalled. The Chinese women's football team is competitive in Asia, and we must play the Olympic qualifiers well. The recent situation of the Chinese men's football team is not too satisfactory, although they won against the Vietnamese team but the technical content is not high, and then lost to the Uzbekistan team. I think Jankovic is a good coach and the coaching staff needs to learn from the lessons. We have to work harder. ”
Source: Xinhua News Agency