State-Run Competitions

AP:

BEIJING (AP)—China’s top soccer league will return to national TV when the
season opens next month, ending a four-month ban imposed because of on-field
violence.

CCTV, China’s government-run broadcaster, and the China Football
Association said Monday broadcasts will resume when the Chinese Super League
season starts March 21.

The government-run Super League has been beset by chronic mismanagement, match-fixing scandals and violence. Neither CCTV nor the soccer association said which games—or how many—would be shown on TV.

CCTV pulled the Super League from national TV in November, following a scuffle between players from clubs from Beijing and neighboring Tianjin. After the game, fans attacked the bus of the visiting Tianjin team.

Jiang Heping, head of sports for CCTV, said at the time some Super League players lacked “professional ethics.”

Despite winning 51 Olympic gold medals six months ago, China and its famed sports schools have failed to produce much soccer talent. China’s national team is rankedNo. 104 by the world governing body.

Its national team was knocked out of 2010 World Cup qualifying last year, failing to make the last 10 in continental competition. The only time China qualified for the World Cup was in 2002. It lost all three games and failed to score.

China is looking for a new national team coach. Yin Tiesheng has handled the team on a temporary basis, with a full-time coach expected this month. In December, Yin replaced Serbia’s Vladimir Petrovic, who was dismissed after China was eliminated in World Cup qualifying.

I have a wonderful idea! Privitize the CSL! Maybe then your entire country won't think you're a joke and there will be less corruption and a better standard of play. Dumbasses!