Disgruntled fans gather to demand that president of football association is sacked as hopes for a football revolution suffer a blow. Chinese sports fans have taken to the streets to demand the resignation of the president of China’s football association after the national side crashed to a shock defeat to Syria in a major blow to president Xi Jinping’s football revolution.
Xi, who Communist party propagandists promote as a dedicated football fan, has vowed to turn China into a footballing superpower. Thousands of football academies are being built across the country in a bid to nurture a new generation of world-beating players. Massive pay packets are being used to lure foreign coaches and players from footballing nations such as Brazil in order to beautify the still dismal Chinese game. But Xi’s ambitious plans to qualify for, host and eventually win a World Cup were dented on Thursday night when China lost 1-0 to Syria.
