Chinese football is still a hard sell to sponsors and the general public, says the vice-president of one of the mainland's biggest sport's marketing companies that was involved in Manchester United's pre-season tour this year. Romain Yao, who works for Oceans Marketing, says that while the Manchester United visit was a huge success, the Chinese Super League (CSL) and national team are not proving so attractive. "We don't think it's a very good time to get involved in the CSL," he says. "Match-fixing did damage the reputation of the league and the real owner of the league is still not clear. This is a problem for commercial partners. "The Chinese Football Association still has a big influence on the league." Unlike in Europe or South America, footballers are not the biggest draw for sponsors wanting to get involved, according to Yao. "Sponsors do not prioritise footballers," he says. "They do not have a very bright image or good reputation. That's mainly because their performance is not that good. "Sponsors are likely to choose someone like badminton player Lin Dan, who is a double Olympic champion." And there is a long way to go before football becomes ingrained in Chinese culture, as it is in Europe and South America. "In China, a lot of people watch football, but far fewer participate, certainly in comparison to somewhere like the UK. "A lot of this is down to the poor performance of the national team. In some big cities there are very few football pitches. "And there's not really this love of the game itself in China. "For example, when Brazil played Zambia in the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing earlier this year, only 10,000 spectators turned out to watch." Simon Austin