Starting from the Chinese New Year in 2024, CCTV has created and grandly launched a new feature documentary that deeply analyzes the current situation and achievements of domestic anti-corruption, which is comprehensive and detailed, and deeply excavates many recent major corruption and bribery cases and the prototype characters behind them. Among them, the most eye-catching feature is the football scene under the curtain of anti-corruption, which has lasted for more than a year, which has attracted heated discussions among fans and social media users, and has firmly topped the trending topics on the Internet, with an increasing number of late-night watchmen.
After several days of anticipation, last night finally broadcast the dramatic events that germinated in Li Tie, Chen Xuyuan, Du Zhaocai and others, and this episode of the program instantly triggered a phenomenal craze, refreshing the number of viewers of the documentary to the highest peak in history, breaking the record of the number of viewers for the first time. Such a deeply rooted documentary, with rigorous investigation and the authentic and profound self-confession of those involved, shows the amazing exchange of interests in the field of football.
In this documentary, we clearly understand the various dark sides that exist within the football world, including Li Tie, Chen Xuyuan, Du Zhaocai and other well-known players who dominated the stadium at the time, and now have become the focus of anti-corruption actions. The chain of interests they are involved in is not only shocking, but also sobering, as the complex interplay between money, power and football gradually emerges one after another, triggering questions about the purity of football. Chen Xuyuan, as the former president of the Football Association, his position in this huge chain of interests is particularly important. He is at the end of the supply chain and is undoubtedly an important bridge connecting all links. According to another reliable document, in the early morning of his chairmanship alone, two football clubs presented him with a "meeting gift" of up to 600,000 yuan. In the face of such a rich gift, Chen Xuyuan did not hesitate and chose to accept it calmly, which undoubtedly constituted a key step for him to step into the abyss of corruption.
In the years that followed, Chen Xuyuan's selfish desires intensified, refusing gifts from various clubs, turning a blind eye to all kinds of turmoil caused by match-fixing, and even adopting a conniving attitude. During his tenure, Li Tie successfully created the myth of the so-called "Super League Sprint", which became a strong proof of Chen Xuyuan's behind-the-scenes operation. Li Tie was a member of the once-prosperous Chinese men's national football team, and after retiring as a coach, he led Hebei Huaxia Happiness and Wuhan Zall to the feat of topping the Super League in just a few years. In people's mindsets, he is the hero who writes good stories, but the reality reminds us that all of this is an illusory vision piled up through money.
Chen's actions have had a profound impact on football. His actions not only seriously damaged the image of Chinese football, but also plunged the entire football ecology into chaos. During his tenure, problems such as match-fixing, black whistles, and corruption emerged one after another, and Chinese football fell into an unprecedented trough. As for Chen Xuyuan's actions, people can't help but ask: Why would a president of the Football Association embark on the road of corruption? The answer may be simple: the temptation of power and money. During his tenure, he wielded tremendous power to influence the fate of the team and decide the outcome of the game. And once this power is tied to money, it can easily lead people to get lost. Chen Xuyuan apparently did not resist this temptation, and eventually became a slave to money.
The club has used illegal means to pay huge sums of money to woo rival executives and players, a move that has given two of its teams a huge advantage in their promotion to the top league. In this process, Chen Xuyuan, as the chairman of the Chinese Football Association, although he has gained a lot of benefits on the surface, but the fact is that he is not trying to seek a steady development path and is committed to gradually restoring Chinese men's football to the first-class level in Asia, but is keen to achieve political results in a short period of time, and does not hesitate to use illegal methods to achieve this goal.
Since Chen Xuyuan assumed the presidency of the Chinese Football Association, he has made many drastic reforms to the Chinese Super League. Unfortunately, these reforms have not only failed to make the league healthier and more stable, but have exacerbated the financial woes of many clubs, many of whom have had to declare bankruptcy or withdraw from the competition due to debt pressure. These include, for example, the very strict restrictions on the qualifications of foreign players and the introduction of gender-neutral team names, which not only deviate from the basic norms of the development of football, but also have a huge negative impact on the competitiveness and attractiveness of the league itself.
In addition to directly influencing the affairs of the professional league, Chen Xuyuan also turned his attention to the development direction of the national football team. He hopes to quickly improve the overall standard of Chinese men's football by attracting foreign internationals to play for the country, in order to achieve outstanding results in this global football event in Qatar. However, the reality shows that this approach does not produce immediate results. Despite the successful naturalization of some powerful overseas players, the Chinese men's football team still performs mediocre in international competitions.
As the top leader of the Chinese Football Association, he has always stayed in the ethereal imagination, and the coaches he relies on can only rely on match-fixing to fabricate the so-called miraculous results, which is obviously not enough to strive for excellent results for the team. The team suffered a catastrophic defeat in the match against Vietnam, and the two men were lashed out at by the keyboard warriors for it, becoming the focus of public opinion. Immediately afterward, an anti-corruption storm that is commonplace among the Chinese people hit them. In interviews with the news media, Chen Xuyuan expressed deep remorse many times, and even choked up and moistened his eyes when his emotions fluctuated greatly.
However, such words of remorse failed to win the sympathy of the public. The people on the Internet have said that this is just a survival trick of the predator, and all his suffering is a disaster that he has incurred, and he must pay for it. His remorse failed to win over the public, who saw it as an excuse for him to try to get rid of his responsibilities. His actions have seriously damaged the reputation of Chinese football and made the masses full of deep doubts about the future of Chinese football.
What Chen Xuyuan and his coaching team did was not only a defeat in a football competition, but also a betrayal of the cause of football in mainland China. All their words and deeds are extremely irresponsible to the cause of Chinese football and the continuous damage caused to them. Now, they must shoulder their respective responsibilities and do their best to promote the future development of Chinese football, rather than continue to indulge in their own fantasies and regrets afterwards.
The fundamental changes and progress required by China's football industry are not endless illusions and disappointments, but must be substantially changed and improved. What Chen Xuyuan and his coaching team have done is only an allusion to this problem, and the deeper problem undoubtedly stems from the management system and market environment of the mainland football industry. Only through sustained anti-corruption and comprehensively deepening reform can we create a better and fairer environment for mainland football, so that Chinese football can truly be revitalized. In this way, everyone involved needs to shoulder their share of responsibility. Whether it is an official, coach or athlete of the Football Association, they should be responsible for their past actions and work hard for the future of football in the mainland wholeheartedly. Only in this way can the mainland football cause climb from the trough and move forward towards a better future.