China is making its mark at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but not on the pitch where it counts
China’s commercial and financial might continue to ensure it is a key player in Russian proceedings, but it also serves to remind football fans how far they have to go to participate
Fans, sponsors, broadcasters, media and just about anyone else associated with the sport in China will be aiming to find a way to be in Russia for the next month, starting on Thursday when the hosts open the tournament against Saudi Arabia at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
More than 100,000 Chinese are expected to take advantage of visa-free travel between the countries during the month-long event with more than 40,000 tickets sold through Fifa’s official website by the end of last week to fans from China.
That number will swell further through hospitality packages sold via another of Fifa’s official partners, BH Hospitality and their mainland agent Shankai, with Chinese football fans based in Europe also expected to attend in significant numbers.
The association of corporate China with the game’s greatest property will be more prevalent than before, both in an overt and behind-the-scenes capacity. Russia 2018 could, in a sense, be China’s great coming out party.
Infront Sports & Media, the company charged with selling Fifa’s international broadcast rights, is owned by Wanda Group, themselves one of four Chinese companies who will feature as top-end commercial partners of Russia 2018 alongside mobile phone manufacturer Vivo, electronic goods maker Hisense and Mingniu, a dairy producer based in Inner Mongolia.
That means an additional three Chinese organisations – men’s attire brand Diking, global technology and entertainment experience company Luci and Yadea, who manufacture electric motorcycles and bicycles – have joined a programme that gives them limited regional association with the tournament.
CCTV, meanwhile, have paid between US$300 and US$400 million to secure the broadcast rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, with the state broadcaster announcing last month a deal to work with digital outlets Migu and Youku to air the games on their mobile and online platforms respectively.
That number pales in comparison to those committed by Tencent as the digital company attempts to use football to further establish itself as a leader in China’s highly competitive content market.
The online outfit behind WeChat will take more than 100 staff to Russia and will set up base in a film studio on the outskirts of Moscow to create and package content across their platforms in partnership with global entertainment companies such as ESPN.
The Chinese Super League, meanwhile, is sending a 29-strong delegation, with plans to visit the Russian Premier League on a fact-finding and exchange mission.
And amid it all will be Milutinovic, the man who made China’s World Cup dreams come true more than a decade and a half ago.
Serving as member of Fifa’s technical study group while juggling his commitments as an ambassador for Qatar’s Aspire Academy, the boisterous Serb will bring his own inimitable style and flamboyant charm to proceedings.
The tentacles of Chinese commerce continue to penetrate the world’s greatest sporting properties but, unlike the Olympics, the World Cup will pass off with the country’s on-field participants watching from the stands or on television.
China may be contributing more economically to the global game than ever, but their absence from where it really matters will remain keenly felt, at home more than anywhere else.