China 'must bid for World Cup'
Fifa presidential hopeful Jerome Champagne says mainland needs to organise high-profile tournaments to fast-track development of players
China must successfully bid for a World Cup and host Fifa club and youth tournaments to fast-track football's development, according to a former French diplomat seeking to unseat Sepp Blatter as Fifa president.
Jerome Champagne, who intends to run against Blatter in next May's election, said China must be at the forefront of any future Fifa strategy to develop the sport globally.
Champagne said the China Football Association should restructure based on Germany's model that proved successful at the World Cup in Brazil - initiated after their dismal failure at Euro 2000.
Bidding for the World Cup and hosting it is a huge speeding-up process for the development of the sport
"The objective must be for China to bid for the World Cup," said the 56-year-old Frenchman who served for 17 years as a diplomat before joining Fifa as an international relations adviser to Blatter. "Bidding for the World Cup and hosting it is a huge speeding-up process for the development of the sport," said Champagne (pictured).
"Look at what happened in the US when the World Cup was organised there for 1994.
"China should also think about hosting Fifa youth competitions. They have organised the women's World Cup and the Olympic football tournaments but bidding for a World Cup under-17 or under-20 tournament would be a good thing - for China and for Fifa."
Champagne, who quit the world governing body in 2010 after 11 years' service, said President Xi Jinping had issued a directive to the China Football Association that the country should host the World Cup, participate regularly in the final rounds of the World Cup, and one day win the World Cup.
Yet while football is the most popular sport in China, with large television audiences for World Cups and European leagues generating huge revenue for broadcasters, the men's national team are far from world class.