- Wallabies 'fell of cliff' in loss to Pumas, says coach Schmidt
- Child abuse scandals hang over pope's East Timor visit
- Biden team, end in sight, keeps hope on Gaza truce despite setbacks
- Sabalenka dedicates US Open to family 'who never gave up' on dream
- Venezuela takes diplomatic jab at Brazil in spat over election
- Multiple people shot along highway in US state of Kentucky
- In Papua New Guinea, Pope holds mass 'at the edge of the world'
- Hewett stays positive for wheelchair tennis despite agonising defeat
- Three things on US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka
- Sabalenka downs Pegula to win US Open thriller
- USA slump to first home defeat against Canada in 67 years
- Argentina hand Australia record 67-27 loss in Rugby Championship
- England impress on Carsley bow, Germany, Dutch hit five
- AFP photographer wins top prize for Gaza coverage
- No Love for Packers for three weeks after ligament sprain: reports
- Pedro Almodovar: chronicler of modern Spain crowned in Venice
- Trump sounds dark tone at rally, Harris 'ready' for debate
- Wirtz and Musiala dazzle to kick-start new Germany era
- Chinese teenager takes 7th gold of Paris Paralympics
- England interim boss Carsley 'respects' divided opinions over anthem
- Neuville moves to the front in the Acropolis Rally
- Garfield, Pugh charm Toronto in new romance 'We Live in Time'
- 21 boys confirmed dead in Kenya school inferno
- Over 100,000 protest in France against new prime minister
- Golden 30 minutes takes China to swimming Paralympics swimming domination
- Green leads Australia to T20 series sweep of Scotland
- Nigeria, Cameroon win afer chaotic AFCON build-ups
- Nicole Kidman: A-lister, cinematic chameleon, wins in Venice
- 'I had to prove myself', says Kolisi after win against All Blacks
- Almodovar wins top prize at Venice film festival
- Grealish savours England redemption after 'worst summer'
- Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland
- Springboks close on Rugby Championship with storming win over All Blacks
- Sri Lanka's De Silva and Kamindu Mendis defy England in third Test
- Farrell's Racing lose on opening day of Top 14
- Dunbar takes second Vuelta stage as Roglic closes in on victory
- Fritz eyes US Open glory to end 21 years of American hurt
- Thousands protest in France against new prime minister
- Trump to hold rally in swing state, Harris preps for debate
- Stone at the double as Sri Lanka collapse against England in third Test
- French tennis player takes legal action over online abuse
- Italy backs Kyiv's 'legitimate defence' as Zelensky presses allies
- The Body Shop rescued from administration after deal
- Smoke and screams: The horror of Kenya's school dorm inferno
- MotoGP leader Martin roars to victory in San Marino sprint
- Ireland and UK to 'reset' relations as Starmer begins Dublin visit
- Ma Lin turns brutal encounter with bear into glorious Paralympic career
- Flintoff appointed England Lions head coach
- Sri Lanka hit back as Pope falls during England collapse in second Test
- Kyiv hits Russian ammo depot as Moscow advances in east
After Beijing Winter Olympics, China eyes World Cup goal
After staging both a Summer and now a Winter Olympics, there is one major international sports event left for China to host -- the football World Cup.
Football fan President Xi Jinping has said he wants China to stage and even win the men's World Cup one day, and the country has been building and renovating stadiums in apparent anticipation.
But analysts say Xi's dream faces a number of obstacles, starting with the dismal performance of the national team.
The men's side have only ever qualified for the World Cup once, in 2002, when they failed to win a point or even score a goal.
Their already failing 2022 Qatar World Cup hopes ended for good in a humiliating 3-1 defeat against Vietnam this month.
As hosts they would automatically qualify for the World Cup, but the current Chinese side would be in real danger of humiliation.
"Many believe China doesn't want to host a World Cup until they can be more confident the national team can perform well enough so as not to embarrass the country," said Cameron Wilson, founder of the Wild East Football website, which specialises in Chinese football.
Chinese football became famous a few years ago for splurging on famous foreign coaches and players, but those days are now long gone.
- No long-term vision -
China has been naturalising players, many of them Brazilian, but the national team remain stuck in 75th in the FIFA rankings.
Qatar were also a footballing minnow in 2010 when they won the right to stage this year's World Cup.
But they have improved since, going from 113th in the world to 52nd today.
However, Wilson warned that the changes needed for China to follow in those footsteps and become a football power are "massive and fundamental".
"Currently, Chinese football is dying because it is controlled by political, not sporting forces," he told AFP.
China needs to "reduce pressure on ordinary people so they are more willing to let their kids spend time on anything other than endless hours spent doing homework", he added.
"They also need to replace their football management structure with something much less top-down which allows football people to make decisions about the sport, not politicians."
Football has found itself in the crosshairs of the ruling Communist Party's purity drive in recent years, with players told to remove or cover tattoos and sometimes join military camps for drills and Marxist-style "thought education".
Mads Davidsen, ex-technical director of Chinese Super League side Shanghai Port, believes China has the "facilities and logistics to handle big events" -- the Beijing 2008 Games and just-finished Winter Olympics in the capital were evidence of that.
He expects China to make a bid for either the 2034 or 2038 World Cup.
"When I was in China, I advised them to make a 8-10 year vision and plan and forget the next World Cup, but build a solid platform of a Chinese football vision and the demands of the modern game," he said.
But there is a "lack of investment in the long term" and too much focus on immediate success, he said.
- Politics in football -
China managed to generate substantial interest in cold weather sports after winning the bid for the Beijing Winter Olympics, which ended on Sunday and saw the hosts come third in the medals table -- easily their best performance at a Winter Games.
Experts say that shows the country has the capacity to drive mass interest when needed.
Despite doom descending on Chinese football after a number of clubs folded in debt, including the former CSL champions Jiangsu Suning, Philippe Troussier believes the national side are "improving year by year".
"Chinese football has evolved a lot" with many club academies which "now invest in the detection, selection and training of young players", said Troussier, who worked for several Chinese clubs and is now Vietnam U-20 coach.
But the Frenchman warned there is still not yet enough infrastructure or coaches, and others warned having a competitive team alone is not enough for a successful World Cup bid.
Bo Li, professor of sports management at Miami University, said football's world governing body FIFA is interested in awarding the competition to host countries who can share -- something which seems unlikely in China's case.
"The competition... is a lot more intensive compared to the Olympic bid," he said, pointing out that the voting format "requires the interested country to have a great relationship with the majority of FIFA members".
"Given the current diplomatic relations, it does not seem that China could work with any neighbouring nation for a co-bid," he warned.
A.Aguiar--PC