Can Chinese soccer rule the world in the ‘Asian century’?

There is little doubt that soccer is the leading spectator sport across Asia. It is commonplace across the Pacific and Greater Asia to have hundreds of millions of fans glued to television sets at home or around town, to catch a game of professional soccer from one of the leading European leagues. Most ­often, this is a match from the English Premier League, quite simply the most popular, widely watched and commercially lucrative professional league in the world.

Commercialisation of football globally and the broadcast revenue generated by the English Premier League – and to a lesser extent by the other major European leagues – ­illustrates the importance of Asian viewership and dollars in fuelling the global economy for the sport. In 2010-11, Asia represented over 32 per cent of the viewership for the English league, with some estimates putting the fan following in the range of 800 million, far outpacing viewership for English soccer from any other continent.

This intense passion for the sport and its consumption from leagues halfway around the world stands in stark contrast to the continued lack of a tradition of success for domestic leagues or national teams from within Asia.

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Since the closing years of the 20th century, politicians and scholars across Asia have touted the rise of Asia’s economic powers. Some have proclaimed the 21st century to be when Asia (finally) takes prominence on the global stage. Fuelled largely by the emergence of China’s (and to some extent India’s) growing prowess, these economies are said to be poised to tilt the scales of global influence in favour of Asia, and the broader Pacific region.

The rise in Asian interest, and economic influence, in soccer has unfolded alongside indicators of growing Asian economic influence on the global stage. In its modern organised form, soccer has deeply captured the imagination of many Asian nations. Historians of the game in India trace it back to the rise of the British Raj in the mid-19th century, and the game’s popularity, especially in Bengal, through clubs like Calcutta FC and the renowned Mohun Bagan. Yet, for various historical and social reasons, soccer ­remained a relatively fringe sport in the country from both participatory and spectator standpoints, and certainly did not capture the imagination of Indians like that other British sporting export: cricket.

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With regard to China, while there is some historical reference to a game of kicking a ball dating back to the Han dynasty, the modern version of the sport seems to have taken hold only in the early part of the 20th century.