"Assistant Zhou, I would like to know what is the approximate scale of funds that the country can invest in the development of football in the next few years?" Feng Quan asked.

Assistant Zhou said with a straight face: "As for the specific figures, I can't tell you an accurate number yet, but in the next five years, the state will invest at least one-tenth of the total national education funding in 2013." Moreover, it does not include the relevant operating costs of professional leagues at all levels, but only for the cultivation of youth football talents and the construction of football infrastructure in various places. ”

Since he did not know the specific figure of the national education funding, Zhao Shijie asked: "So, what is the national education budget in 2013?" ”

"The plan formulated at the beginning of the year is 300000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 After a pause, Assistant Zhou continued: "In other words, the country's investment in football in the next five years will be at least about 300 billion yuan. ”

Hearing this, Feng Quan's face suddenly showed an excited expression.

300 billion in 5 years, then the average is 600 billion per year.

If the 60 billion funds are evenly distributed to various provinces and cities, although it is difficult to change the embarrassing status quo of Chinese football "Asian second and third rate", if all these funds can be used on the cutting edge, at least it can also promote the gradual increase of China's football population. After all, without a stable base, the pyramid simply cannot be built.

Ironically, as we approach, South Korea and Japan have gradually led to a steady growth in the domestic football population with the vigorous development of domestic professional leagues, while China's football population has shown a serious downward trend in the context of increasing investment in professional leagues.

According to the 2012 statistics of the Football Association, the total number of young players registered with the Football Association in all provinces and cities across the country is less than 10,000. In our immediate vicinity of Japan and South Korea, we have more than 500,000 youth football registered with the Football Association. Even in a small country like Vietnam, the number of young players registered with the Football Association has reached 50,000.

At the beginning of the professionalization of Chinese football, the peak number of football registered with the Football Association exceeded 200,000.

In fact, it is precisely because of the annual decline in the population of Chinese football that the overall strength of Chinese football has declined.

If you only look at this set of statistics, Chinese football can barely keep the position of "Asia's second-rate", and it can even be regarded as a miracle.

Why has China's football population fallen to less than 10,000 after entering the professional market?

First of all, with the professionalization of Chinese football, the original local professional teams at all levels relying on sports schools at all levels have no room for survival, and the professional sports schools under the local sports bureaus have lost the motivation to cultivate youth football talents.

As a result, many young people from poor families but with a certain talent for football are difficult to afford the high tuition fees of football schools, which can often cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. It is precisely because of this that China's football population is declining year by year.

Secondly, because the success rate of professional football players is very low, even parents who can afford the high tuition fees of football schools (and the training costs of the various professional club echelons) have to worry about their children's future.

Considering that the level of education of domestic players is generally not high, and because they have been engaged in professional football training at a very young age, they simply do not have any other livelihood skills other than playing football. Therefore, if your children are unable to become professional footballers, their future life will be very difficult.

Except for a very small number of talented young players, and those who have a solid enough family background and really love football, many other teenagers who love football will eventually choose to give up for various reasons.

In Feng Quan's view, if you want to achieve the goal of returning to the "first-class in Asia", you must first solve the problem of the low population of Chinese football. After all, it is obviously not easy to compete with the 500,000 or 600,000 football population of Japan and South Korea with a football population of 10,000 in China.

So, after learning that the country is ready to increase investment in football, Feng Quan told some of his analysis of the overall strength of Chinese football declining year by year.

After listening to Feng Quan's analysis, Assistant Zhou couldn't help but admire in his heart. In his opinion, it is not easy for Yifeng to have such an opinion at the age of less than 20.

However, Assistant Zhou's face did not show a trace of joy.

"Wind Champion, what you said makes a lot of sense. But even those of us who are not football professionals know a thing or two. Therefore, we would like to hear your specific solutions to these problems. ”

After thinking for a while, Feng Quan immediately spoke: "First of all, we should follow Japan's youth training model, and while effectively developing the campus football industry, we should also increase the supervision of the youth training system of various professional clubs. For those clubs that have not improved the youth training system, the punishment must be increased. Only in this way can they truly realize the importance of youth training. ”

"Secondly, football schools that are only trying to make money, with a few dilapidated buildings and a few grass teams that don't even have artificial turf, must be closed. Otherwise, it is tantamount to mutilating those teenagers who truly love football. ”

"And for those football schools that really want to cultivate talents for Chinese football, such as the electric power football school in Shandong Province and the Hengda football school in Yangcheng, the state should give certain support in terms of funds and personnel."

"Of course, I personally think that the most important factor restricting the development of Chinese football is the domestic football stadium problem. After all, if it's hard to find a place to play football, there are fewer and fewer teenagers willing to devote themselves to football. ”

Hearing this, Assistant Zhou suddenly raised his hand and interrupted: "Although I personally agree with your point of view very much. However, even if the state is willing to invest a lot of money in the construction of professional football stadiums, due to the impact of the real estate development boom in recent years, there is very little public welfare land for the state to build football stadiums. Therefore, the problem of lack of football stadiums is probably difficult to solve even if the 'Great Elder' comes forward in person. ”

"Assistant Zhou, I think the problem of lack of football stadiums is not without a solution."

"Oh? I would like to hear about it. ”

"It's actually very easy to solve this problem. First of all, the state can use the funds to be invested in football projects to build primary and secondary schools in provinces and cities, or to renovate football fields with artificial turf. In this way, it is not only equivalent to investing in the hardware infrastructure of primary and secondary schools, but also giving students a place to play football. ”

"However, I personally hope that the state will help primary and secondary schools build stadiums and allow them to open their stadiums to the public during weekend breaks, so that more people who love football can have a place to play."

After a pause, Feng Quan continued: "Finally, I personally want to ask the state for help. ”

"Tell me about it." Assistant Zhou asked with interest.

"I am personally ready to open a football school with international standards."