Is men’s national football team the shame of China? A trending hashtag on Weibo with more than 320 million views says yes
- Well-known comedian Gong Hanlin sparks unprecedented online debate, after saying men’s football team was ‘a complete shame for China’
- Former national team captain Feng Xiaoting fires back in a length post on Weibo, saying game needs ‘doers, not keyboard warriors‘
A rare public feud is unfolding on Chinese social media about the state of men’s football, after well-known sketch comedian Gong Hanlin fired off a series of comments over what he called an overpaid and underperforming men’s national football team.
Gong had been speaking at the annual plenary session of the National People’s Congress, where he was rallying against entertainers who earn hundreds of millions, yet continue to evade taxes.
But it was his comments on the men’s national football team that sparked the most controversy.
“A football team with an annual income of 3 million, 5 million or even tens of millions, and they didn’t see a goal on the pitch. This is a complete shame for Chinese people,” Gong said.
His comments sparked an emotional response from former national team captain Feng Xiaoting, now with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, who in a lengthy post of his own said there was little empathy for footballers, some who had not been paid more than a year.
“Criticism and accusations are easy, but it’s hard to know oneself. To improve Chinese football, we need doers, not keyboard warriors,” Feng said.