On December 28, the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup (hereinafter referred to as the World Club Cup) and the 2023 Asian Cup host cities were announced. Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan, Hangzhou, Dalian and other 8 cities host the World Club Cup; Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, suzhou and other 10 cities became the host city of the Asian Cup in 2023.
15 cities across the country will participate in the undertaking of the two major football events, among which Shanghai, Tianjin and Dalian will become the cities that hold the World Club Cup and the Asian Cup at the same time.
The World Club Cup will be held in China from June to July 2021. The World Club Cup is an international football event hosted by FIFA and participated by world-class club teams. Not long ago, Fifa carried out a radical reform of the 2021 World Club Cup-the competition system changed from one session per year to one session per year in the past, and the number of participating teams increased from 7 to 24, A total of 32 games were played. After restructuring and upgrading, the World Club Cup will become a brand-new event with the world’s top influence and competitive level.
Shi Qiang, secretary general of the preparation office for the World Club Cup and the Asian Cup, introduced that FIFA hopes to establish the operation mode of the tournament through China’s holding of the first World Club Cup after restructuring. “According to the standards of the World Cup, the World Club Cup has relatively high requirements on football fields and training venues. FIFA even hopes to continue the mode of the Russian World Cup and establish team training camps everywhere”. It is understood that the expected revenue of the World Club Cup will reach 2.4 billion US dollars, and the prize won by the World Club team will be higher than that of the World Cup.
The 2023 Asian Cup will also be held in China in June and July. This event is the most influential football event held in Asia at the rapid development stage football Asia. This is also after 2004, China once again hosted the Asian Cup after 19 years. According to the requirements of the Asian Football Association, all venues must be professional football stadium.
Therefore, whether it is the World Club Cup or the Asian Cup, the requirements for the site are relatively high. Rebuilding, rebuilding and building new sites have become a major focus of the preparation work. Among the existing professional football stadium in our country, only TEDA Football Stadium in Tianjin can be directly used after some renovation. Two professional football stadium located in Chengdu and Pudong, Shanghai have already started construction. According to the preparation time, the World Club Cup site will be mainly transformed, and the Asian Cup site will be mainly rebuilt and newly built.
After the end of the World Club Cup and the Asian Cup, 15 international and professional high-quality football fields will be left for China. In addition, the matching high-quality training venues will reach 100 yuan, and 15 cities will build high-level youth training centers based on training venues.
2021is an important time node for our country to achieve the first centennial goal. The World Club Cup will become an important window to show China’s political, economic, social and cultural development. Holding the World Club Cup and the Asian Cup is a major measure to implement the “overall plan for the reform and development of Chinese football” and accelerate the popularization and development of Chinese football. These two football competitions will strongly promote the construction of urban infrastructure, promote the upgrading of sports industry and sports consumption, enhance the development of tourism, transportation and other service industries, and bring greater economic and social benefits. It will also strongly promote the construction of football infrastructure and the development of youth football and social football. At the same time, it will further enhance the international influence and discourse power of Chinese football and create a good external environment for the development of Chinese football.
On next January, the Preparatory Office for the World Club Cup and the Asian Cup will organize 15 provinces and cities where the host city is located to hold mobilization and deployment meetings. The World Club Cup and Asian Cup organizing committee will also be established to strengthen communication with Fifa and Fifa, actively coordinate relevant ministries and local governments, and accelerate the construction of site facilities. In addition, relevant indemnificatory policies will be studied and formulated, and supervision and inspection will be strengthened to ensure the smooth progress of the preparatory work.
Chen Chenxi