China’s long march to football domination

China’s football has followed the same model as in other industries, purchase abroad to learn best practice

Carlos Tevez (centre) is escorted past fans and media on his arrival at Pudong International Airport Picture: Chinatopix via AP

A year ago this week, a company backed down from one of the more bizarre propositions that European football had seen. Ledman, an LED manufacturer that sponsors the Chinese Super League and promotes itself as a “strategic partner of Chinese FA”, took over the naming rights of the Portuguese second tier and thought it could take a whole lot more with it.

Its plan was, in fact, to force ten Chinese players onto ...