Wanda boss urges China fans to be patient
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 24, 2017
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China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, has warned his compatriots not to expect overnight results despite the heavy financial investment in raising the standards of football in the country.
"Chinese football is riding on a fresh rising tide after the boom in the 1990s," Wang told Xinhua News Agency. "We can say that the game has developed better now than was the case years ago in China. To put it simply, football is a money sport that requires a high capital input. But it also matters how the money is spent.
"As a result of a doubled or redoubled capital input, the CSL has flourished for the past four or five years, while in sharp contrast the number of youth playing football has not gone up significantly."
"It is unlikely to see results in just three to five years," Wang, whose Wanda conglomerate part owns Atletico Madrid, said.
"But it is never too late if concrete actions are taken to develop sports facilities, promote youth participation, and organise youth games. In terms of fostering football players, we have to be patient and wait for up to 10 years before results can be seen."
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