Opinion | Plenty of bold forecasts in China’s sporting gold rush – but many prospectors likely to lose shirts

For every big hitter like Wanda or Alibaba getting involved in the country’s burgeoning sports industry, there are a host of dodgy-looking operators

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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, left, watches a ball flying past Gui Guojie, general manager of Shanghai CRED Real Estate Stock, after a signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Port Adelaide Football Club, Australian Football League and Chinese sponsorship at a hotel in Shanghai, China on Thursday, April 14. Photo: AP

Published: 10:00am, 15 Apr 2016Updated: 12:28pm, 16 Apr 2016

“I have great confidence that once this sport is imported into China, it definitely will gather a huge group of fans and refresh the cultural exchange between China and Australia. I strongly believe this moment will be firmly framed in the sports history of our country.”

That was the optimistic declaration of Gui Guojie, founder of real estate company Shanghai Cred, this week as he announced a new partnership with Australian Rules football club Port Adelaide on Thursday.

It wasn’t the only China sporting forecast this week.

“We hope to have one million players in 10 years’ time,” Zhang Dazhong, CEO of Alisports, told the SCMP last Sunday as they announced a 10-year partnership with World Rugby to develop the game on the mainland.

Bernard Lapasset (L), chairman of World Rugby, Brett Gosper (C), CEO of World Rugby and Dazhong Zhang of Alisports (R) pose for a photo at a press conference after signing a partnership to see developement of rugby in China, on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament on April 10. Photo: AFP

The following day, a 14-page official document, “Medium and Long-Term Plan of Chinese Football Development” outlined plans for China to become a football superpower over the next 35 years. By 2020, China will have 20,000 soccer academies, 30 million schoolkids playing, and more than 50 million people active in the game, declares the Plan.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}For every big hitter like Wanda or Alibaba getting involved in the country’s burgeoning sports industry, there are a host of dodgy-looking operators

For every big hitter like Wanda or Alibaba getting involved in the country’s burgeoning sports industry, there are a host of dodgy-looking operators