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Ada Li

Fifa’s Secretary General said during a visit to China this week that he hoped to see Chinese youth teams competing on the world stage at future World Cups across different age groups – and two of the country’s under-17 teams qualified to do just that this week.
Speaking at China’s National Football Youth Training Centre on Tuesday, Mattias Grafstrom said that now there was an under-17 World Cup every year, “we hope to see China there, both the boys and the girls”.
Coincidentally, China’s youth teams duly obliged, with both earning breakthroughs this week.
In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, the men’s under-17 team bounced back from two straight defeats to beat Qatar 2-0 in their final group match and advance to the quarter-finals of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup, where they will face the hosts on Friday. China had earlier lost 1-0 to Indonesia and 2-1 to Japan.
The win also secured China a place in the final stages of the men’s under-17 World Cup for the first time in 21 years – the first Chinese men’s team of any age group to do so since the under-17 team at the 2005 World Championship in Peru.
A day earlier, China’s women’s under-17 team beat India 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in Jiangsu on Monday to reach the semi-finals and qualify for the Women’s Under-17 World Cup in Morocco later this year. China will North Korea in their semi-final on Thursday night.

Said Grafstrom in Beijing: “I think [the under-17 World Cup] is a great tool to motivate the kids to have the opportunity to participate every year in the World Cup,”
“And of course, we will be working closely and also investing in the development of the game here together with the Chinese FA. And we are very excited about it; this is the main reason for our visit,” he added.
Grafstrom also praised China’s five-tier youth academy system, which covers national, regional, city and county levels.
A fellow Fifa official, chief football officer Jill Ellis, who was also in the visiting delegation, said the governing body shared the Chinese Football Association’s ambition of “restoring China as a regular contender for major honours”.
“As a former coach, I just remember such a great history between the US and China, great matches and legendary players,” Ellis told Chinese state-owned media Xinhua News Agency. “Global women’s football needs China to be back in a leadership position. We’re passionate about trying to support, guide, facilitate any way we can help in this process.”
On the Fifa World Cup starting next month, Grafstrom said: “The [World Cup] preparations are going very well. We’re very excited. Only a few days left for the tournament to start.
“The first World Cup with 48 teams I think will be a great success. Sixteen more teams will have the opportunity to enjoy the World Cup experience.
“We’re very much looking forward to seeing this tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada; it’s going to be very exciting. And I’m sure it will create a lot of passion all around the world, and in China, of course.”
The Fifa visit came amid reports officials were trying to persuade China’s state broadcaster to buy television rights for this year’s World Cup, and were said to be offering to cut the asking price by more than half.
Fifa had originally sought US$300 million, but the proposed reduction to between US$120 million and US$150 million is still well above the US$80 million CCTV had indicated it would pay.
The price has drawn criticism from China’s online community and football fans, many of whom argued that, without a Chinese team at the World Cup, CCTV should have more bargaining power.
“Without Chinese players, 1.4 billion of us are just helping them promote the tournament. They should be paying us advertising fees instead,” one netizen wrote, with more than 1,000 users liking the comment.


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Both under-17 men’s and women’s teams reach final stages of Asian Cup to book World Cup spots as Mattias Grafstrom praises Chinese system


Both under-17 men’s and women’s teams reach final stages of Asian Cup to book World Cup spots as Mattias Grafstrom praises Chinese system.


China youth teams qualify for World Cups amid Fifa hopes of seeing nation back on top stage

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Both under-17 men’s and women’s teams reach final stages of Asian Cup to book World Cup spots as Mattias Grafstrom praises Chinese system

Both under-17 men’s and women’s teams reach final stages of Asian Cup to book World Cup spots as Mattias Grafstrom praises Chinese system