China under-20 team face triple German league snub over ‘commercial gesture’
Chinese football authorities forge further links with reigning world champions, with the latest move seeing a youth team set to compete in the regionalised fourth tier
Plans to field a China under-20 side in the fourth tier of Germany’s soccer leagues have hit problems less than a day after the deal was signed with three of the teams in the league refusing to play against the Chinese side.
Of the 19 teams in the league concerned, 16 have given the green light to the project, but Mannheim, TuS Koblenz and Stuttgarter Kickers have said “no”.
Mannheim opted out because they want their players to rest, Koblenz have declined after a fan protest, while Kickers would only take part if the whole league was involved.
“The main reason was there was no real concept behind the project and no sporting value for the participating clubs, nor could any assessment be made as to the standard of the Chinese team,” said Koblenz.
And as the club’s president Arnd Gelhard commented, it raises the question: “where does the commercialisation of football have its limit?”.