Football: The immortal legend on the green field

The Standing Committee meeting was full of swords and sabers from the very beginning.

Nan Yong's eyes swept across the several Standing Committee members diagonally opposite him, but did not look at Yuan Weimin and Zhang Jilong who were in the center.

He needed to test Yuan Weimin's attitude. In his opinion, given Yuan Weimin's steadiness, he should not support Yan Shiduo's rash action. Or maybe Yan Shiduo proposed this to Yuan Weimin, and as a superior leader, it was not convenient to offend the newly appointed full-time vice chairman, so he pushed it to the Standing Committee for study?

It would be interesting if the two of them communicated in advance and reached an agreement. He had the longest seniority among the members of the Football Association's Standing Committee. He had been in the Football Association for a long time and had made extensive connections. He could use benefits to pave the way for himself and was often successful in everything he did. People travel thousands of miles to become officials just for money. For thousands of years, the way of being an official left by our ancestors had proved the "correctness" of this point countless times.

If the two have really reached a consensus, then it would be interesting to bring Zhang Jilong, who has already stepped down as a member of the Standing Committee and is on the verge of retirement, to the Standing Committee meeting.

He has four solid votes and Yan Shiduo has three votes. So which side Yuan Li will stand on becomes the key. This woman usually plays the role of a peacemaker when encountering issues that are not related to her. What if Yan Shiduo has done her work in advance?

In the event of a tie, Yuan Weimin, as the leader, would have one vote.

No, if things really come to a point where we have to fall out and decide by raising hands, I cannot let Zhang Jilong, who is not a member of the team, have the right to vote. It's no big deal if I offend him. He is going to retreat to the second line anyway, so offending him is not a big deal.

Nan Yong's words pierced Yan Shiduo's heart like needles. He had not expected that this usually low-key deputy secretary and vice chairman would for the first time bluntly question his reform measures at the Standing Committee meeting after he took office as a full-time vice chairman. His contemptuous tone and attitude made Yan Shiduo feel a genuine anger spreading in his heart.

A gimmick? Is this the conclusion that Nan Yong came up with after all the hard work he put into the suggestion?

Yan Shiduo felt his temples throbbing, and the looks from the other Standing Committee members turned toward him became somewhat ambiguous.

He suppressed his inner anger, picked up the teacup and took a big sip to calm his inner rage. In all his years in politics, this was the first time he felt the sharp challenge from his opponents. He always had to remain calm in the face of major events. This was the advice his father-in-law gave him. He was told to remain calm and rational when working at the Football Association. The more urgent the situation and the more prominent the contradictions, the more he had to keep a normal mind.

In the early days of reform and opening up, I was sent to study in the United States. In 81, inspired by the women's volleyball team's first world championship, I resolutely chose sports management, an extremely unpopular major. After returning to China, I joined the State Sports Commission. In the early s, some Chinese sports projects began to take professional pilot projects, and I was once again sent to the NBA to learn advanced professional sports management experience. After returning to China, I now work in the Policy Research Office. When Director Wu of the Sports Commission talked to me two years ago, I thought I would be sent to the Basketball Association, but I didn't expect that I would be appointed as a full-time vice chairman of the Football Association.

Our country's Football Association is different from that of other countries. It is an organization with two names. The Football Management Center is an official organization, while the Football Association, on the surface, is a non-governmental organization like other countries. In reality, those who know it know that after working in the Football Association for more than a year and serving as a full-time vice chairman, it is equivalent to being a ***.

However, the Football Association's major policies and direction are still led by Yuan Weimin, deputy director of the Sports Commission. According to organizational principles, he makes the final decision on specific matters, while daily work is handled by other standing committee members in charge. If such an organizational structure is stronger, he can have the final say in specific work. If it is weaker, he, the full-time vice chairman, will be sidelined and become a supervisor.

It has been more than a year, and I have learned what I should know. No matter how hard I try, I will never know what some people don't want me to know. Although there are some rumors, they are just rumors after all. Before they are confirmed, I can regard them as hearsay. I am very clear about the phenomenon of Nan Yong, Yang Yimin and others forming a group, and I usually don't think it's a big deal. I didn't expect that I would be faced with such a storm as soon as I put forward my idea.

He knew that his foundation in the Football Association could not be compared with that of other standing committee members. Since he had worked as secretary to Director Wu for two years in his early years, everyone had always thought that he was here to gild his resume and would be transferred to the Sports Commission after qualifying for the 04 World Cup.

What they didn't expect was that the person who was transferred was the nominal leader, Yuan Weimin, deputy director of the Sports Commission. In order to clear the way for himself to control the Football Association, Director Wu had recently promoted Zhang Jilong, the most senior member of the Football Association, to the second line one year in advance. His organizational relationship would be suddenly transferred, and he would take over the position of party secretary formerly held by Yuan Weimin. He only had to wait for Yuan Weimin to complete the handover in a month, and then he could take charge of both party and government affairs.

One can imagine the loss and dissatisfaction in the hearts of people like Nan Yong and Yang Yimin, but he thought that given their personal cultivation and connotation, no matter how dissatisfied they were, it would not be possible for them to express it in such a way on such an occasion.

He had truly experienced it. Perhaps it was only now that he had truly entered the substantive reality. Director Yuan had reminded him before the meeting. Although he did not pay attention to it at the time, he still prepared well with a cautious attitude. He did not expect to really encounter it.

Yan Shiduo looked at the mocking faces of Nan Yong and Yang Yimin opposite him and felt furious. However, his twenty years of work experience helped him calm down quickly. He urgently needed someone to speak up to support him. Even if his proposal could not be passed, it would not be possible for everyone else to be opponents except himself.

As the leader and arbitrator, it was impossible for Director Yuan to clearly support him at this time. Looking down at Yuan Li, who was looking down at the meeting materials, it seemed that this woman who always tried to smooth things over could not be relied on at this time.

Fei Qimin is the Football Association’s steward, who ranks last among the Standing Committee members, and his weight is still a bit light.

Looking up at Zhang Jilong on the rostrum, Zhang Jilong looked relaxed, with the pen in his hand constantly scribbling something on the notebook. Being in the second position, he seemed to be totally oblivious to the tense atmosphere in front of him. His eyes seemed to be fixed on somewhere, as if he was pondering the opinions put forward by both sides.

"I cannot accept the opinions of Chairman Nan and Chairman Yang." Yan Shiduo felt that his tone was a little too sonorous, and he lowered his voice slightly. "It has been ten years since football entered the market, and everyone has seen the effect. Chinese football has gone from being first-rate in Asia to being second-rate now. From this aspect alone, our work in the past ten years has not met everyone's expectations. Why can Japanese football surpass us in just a few years? Japan's professionalization is later than ours. Why is this?

Japanese professional teams also don’t have promotion and relegation, and the players’ salaries are only half of ours. Japan’s 14 professional teams also don’t have promotion and relegation. Their professional league has been going on for several years, and the owners of the clubs have basically not changed. What about us? No investors withdrew that year, so who are the people who stay now? Most of them are speculators without funds. They throw footballs just to get benefits from local governments.

Why do we need such investors? They are making football a mess. Does the NBA, the strongest basketball league in the world, have promotion and relegation? Brazil is the world's strongest country. You can't deny that. Do they have promotion and relegation?

Also, the salaries of players are getting more and more outrageous, and the clubs are overwhelmed. Stop saying that if you don’t do it, someone else will do it.”

As soon as Yan Shiduo's last words came out, Nan Yong's face suddenly turned gloomy. A few months ago, when Wang Jianlin said in front of him, "If the Football Association cannot ban match-fixing and refereeing, Wanda will withdraw from Chinese football forever," it was Nan Yong, who was in charge of the league, who retorted to his face, "If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will."

Exposing the truth in front of others is going to tear our relationship apart!

Yuan Weimin nodded slightly without being noticed. It was okay. Yan Shiduo finally got into the state.

To fight back against old hands like Nan Yong and Yang Yimin, we must use the sharpest weapons. This is a matter of attitude. Humility, courtesy, frugality and modesty have never been the best options in officialdom. In a life-and-death struggle, nothing can be accomplished without passion.

If he can't even pass this level, he will really underestimate Director Wu Shaozu's vision, and even more so Yan Shiduo himself.

Seeing Nan Yong's expression change slightly, he seemed to want to refute, but under Yuan Weimin's gaze, he finally did not speak.

Yuan Weimin turned to Zhang Jilong and asked, "Old Zhang, tell me what you think of Shiduo's reform plan."

Zhang Jilong nodded and said, "Since Director Yuan asked for my opinion, I will tell you. I am not a decision maker and I am not qualified to raise my hand, so I will not comment on the specific contents one by one. Chairman Yan's reform plan reminds me of Wang Anshi's "Qingmiao Law" in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Wang Anshi originally proposed the "Qingmiao Law" to prevent comprador bureaucrats from using the power of the state to provide low-interest loans to self-cultivating farmers to tide over difficulties when there was a shortage of food. It was implemented very well in places where there were honest officials. It prevented unscrupulous businessmen from using high interest rates to swallow up the land in the hands of self-cultivating farmers, and greatly alleviated the phenomenon of land annexation.

But in most areas, land annexation was even more serious. The profiteers, landlords and local officials in those areas colluded with each other, taking the money from the court and forcibly levying it on every self-cultivating farmer who owned land. For example, if someone only needed 10 taels of silver, they would forcibly levy 100 taels, or even more. When it came time to repay the loan, the interest on such a large amount of money was beyond the self-cultivating farmer's ability to repay. When the government was unable to recover the loan, it would discount the debt and contract it out to the big merchants and landlords. With the support of the local government, the big merchants and landlords would forcibly take the self-cultivating farmers' land to repay the debt.

Yuan Weimin looked around and thought about it. It is true that no matter how good a policy is, it still needs people to implement it.

As a supervisory leader, he was not completely in the dark. He had long known that some people within the Football Association were involved in financial shady dealings. However, anyone who could climb to such a high position must have been connected to those above. He could not move these corrupt officials with his own power. He had to wait for an opportunity.

"It seems that Shiduo's reform plan is not recognized by most people. My opinion is that Comrade Yan Shiduo should fully consult the opinions of football-related experts and make appropriate modifications to the plan. He should also listen to the opinions and suggestions of comrades!

Especially for veterans like Zhang Jilong, who have worked in the football field for half their lives, they still have some insights in certain aspects. "Seeing that the plan was unlikely to pass, Yuan Weimin did not vote on the plan on the spot, which was also a protection for Yan Shiduo.

The reform plan proposed by Yan Shiduo was shelved.

"The 06 World Cup national team group match against Hong Kong will be held in ten days, and there are three days left before the deadline for submitting the team list to the AFC. Comrade Wei Shaohui and the coaching staff have reported the team members. Please take a look and see if there is anything else that needs to be added. If there is no objection, please report it according to Comrade Shaohui's opinion!" Yuan Weimin said, picking up the list of national team members submitted by Wei Shaohui.

Zhang Jilong interrupted at the right time, "Director Yuan, don't hold out too much hope for this game. I have already resigned as the first vice president of the AFC. South Korea's Chung Mong-joon also lost the battle with Qatar's Hamman for the right to speak in the AFC. As you all know, Arab countries have always followed the lead of the West and there is always a gap between us. They have always been upset about the grouping of the last World Cup qualifiers. From the announced referee group, we can see that there is basically no hope for us to qualify."

Before Zhang Jilong said this, everyone present still had hope of qualifying. After all, the opponent they faced was their own younger brother, and if the game started at the same time, it should not be a problem to get enough goals. It all depends on who is shameless. In today's world football, when it comes to qualifying, no one cares about face.

"Since this is the case, we must come up with a plan in advance to deal with attacks from domestic fans and media. And since this has already happened, we must plan ahead for the Asian Cup and the next World Cup. Old players like Fan Zhiyi, Hao Haidong and Li Ming are no longer necessary in the national team. My opinion is that the national team should undergo a large-scale blood transfusion, allowing some young people with potential to join and let them accumulate more international competition experience. This is still necessary."

"Is there really no hope?" Wei Shaohui's face was full of bitterness. As the person in charge of the men's national football team, he must first face accountability from above. As for the fans and the media, he doesn't care. The media and fans will only look for reasons from the head coach and a player who performed poorly, and will never find trouble with everyone in the Football Association. If they have to complain, they will complain about the Football Association as a whole. If the sky falls, there are big men to hold it up, and they will never find trouble with himself, who has a very low sense of presence in the Football Association.

The conference room was unusually quiet; even the sound of Yuan Li drinking water was particularly clear.

"I know that many people are still holding on to some hope, just like they believed we had qualified before the results of the Saudi Arabia and New Zealand matches came out more than a decade ago. We should stop deceiving ourselves. The reality is that we cannot have the slightest hope."