China imposed a 100% tax for transfers of foreign players to loss-making soccer clubs – in fact all. A desperate measure that shows China is very far away from playing, less alone winning the World Cup, as president Xi Jinping wants it, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons at Sky News.Read More →
China has been a financial paradise for many top European soccer players. But a new rule by the China Football Association, with a 100% tax on transfers by clubs who are losing money, might kill this track, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons to Tribal Football.Read More →
Soccer in China is government organized and that not only leads to a bad quality soccer, it is also illegal under the FIFA rules, writes soccer expert Rowan Simons at the New York Times. Rowan Simons is chairman of China ClubFootball FC, the first amateur football network in China with foreign investors, and the author of “Bamboo Goalposts.Read More →
China´s soccer clubs have been spending unprecedented amounts of capital in buying foreign players and improving high-profile stadiums and other infrastructure, hoping to win the World Cup. But the basis is wrong, so the efforts will fail, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons to AFP,Read More →
Developer Reeze Fan of SoccerWorld tries to capitalize on president Xi Jinping´s dream to change China into a soccer nation by building recreational soccer complexes. But despite prominent support, Fan faces an uphill battle, warns soccer expert Rowan Simons in Bloomberg.Read More →
Reforming Chinese soccer has been one of the pet projects of president Xi Jinping. But despite much political goodwill and millions moving ahead, results have been poor, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons in a wide-ranging interview with the South China Morning Post, looking at his grass-root experiences in Beijing.Read More →
There is no shortage of ambition and money to put soccer on China´s agenda as the FIFA 2018 World Cup in South-Korea is on the horizon. But there is no quick fix to makes it into the world league fast, warns soccer expert Rowan Simons in the South China Morning Post.Read More →
President Xi Jinping still wants China to win the World Cup by 2050, but fortunately, his 50-point soccer plans is about much more, tells soccer expert Rowan Simons to WorldCrunch.”China’s soccer leaders will be millions of people participating in the game because they enjoy it.”Read More →
China has been spending too much money on soccer, especially on players and coaches, says soccer expert Rowan Simons to AFP. But there is no end in sight, and it is not helping soccer in China.Read More →
Retail giant Suning has bought a majority share of Italian soccer club Inter Milan. Soccer expert Rowan Simons suggests in Time that those high-profile purchases might help some egos, but is unlikely to boost soccer in China.Read More →
President Xi Jinping´s love for football has put the sport solid on China´s political agenda. This year US$300 million was spend to buy European football players, all apart from the big names. China football expert Rowan Simons has for CNN a look at the way how the football happiness plan works.Read More →
The now-closed shopping spree for soccer players by Chinese clubs has taken the industry by surprise: over 40 players moved East in the past months. But China soccer expert Rowan Simons does not think this is necessarily a smart move, he tells the Daily Mail.Read More →