Chinese players to be forced on second tier Portuguese clubs?

Algarveaddick

Report from the Portugal News Online:

"The Portuguese Second Division has secured sponsorship from Chinese company Ledman for next season in a deal where the total value is yet to be revealed.

However, the LED light manufacturer only agreed to the deal after Portuguese football authorities agreed that clubs would appoint at least three assistant managers who are Chinese, along with regularly including ten Chinese players in the starting line-ups of top teams.

The move has been criticised by the Portuguese players’ union, who argue players would not be selected on merit."

It does not appear to be a joke... and we think the FA is bad.

Henry Irving

Thank Gawd the FA would never allow something so silly in this country

se9addick

"ten Chinese players in the starting line-ups of top teams"

I assume that's ten players across all teams rather than ten players per team ?

Either way I don't see how that would work - "it's your turn to pick a Chinese player this week" !

killerandflash

Surely EU employment laws would restrict the number of Chinese players coming in? I'm guessing that they won't be full internationals?

Algarveaddick

Yes I agree it must be 10 players over all and I agree EU laws must restrict this. It would not prevent the incredibly dumb people running Portuguese football from thinking they can pocket some cash by going along with this without thinking any further than the end of their nose. They are so obsessed with almost no-one caring about any team except for Benfica, Sporting or Porto, (which, sadly, isn't far from the truth) that they believe they can push any old shit on the 5% to 10% who are not on the glory hunting bandwagon. Last night an Algarve team (Portimonense) became the first second tier team ever to make it to the semi-final of the Portuguese League Cup. They were in a group with Sporting and Pacos de Ferreira, and beat them both, the media coverage was exclusively about Sporting's failure. On most news and sports channels there was literally no mention of Portimonense's achievement. There is no UK comparison, even if Truro City or Linlithgow Rose made it to the semi final of anything there would be some recognition, here, nothing.

Another reason why football in the UK, and England in particular, really is so far in front of any other league in the world by a country mile. And in order to keep it like that, make sure your kids don't lose the faith, despite the extraordinary situation we Addicks find ourselves in.

Halix

What kind of meglomaniac would try and impose a load of foreign players, coaches and management, on a team playing in a different countries league to the detriment of the indigenous population?, it would be ridiculous, they would try forcing furnishing items like sofas, or introduce fancam on to the supporters next.

Algarveaddick

Halix said:

What kind of meglomaniac would try and impose a load of foreign players, coaches and management, on a team playing in a different countries league to the detriment of the indigenous population?, it would be ridiculous, they would try forcing furnishing items like sofas onto the supporters next.

What a risable suggestion... I cannot envisage such a thing happening elsewhere...

Jessie

This is the 'Chinese way'. You can figure out why Chinese football has been absolutely poor for many years. It's corrupted from the top to the bottom. There were rumours that a couple of players bribed their way into the national team. At any level of Chinese football, it's usually kids with parents who are rich and willing to give away money or in other words 'financially powerful' (like the company mentioned above) that can come through the ranks, not the talented ones. It's a systematic problem which exists not only in football but also in almost every other field in this country.

Algarveaddick

I thought about you when I read this Jessie. Always interesting to hear your thoughts on any subject, but particularly on football in your home country. Thanks for your contribution.

Jessie

Thank you. I actually stopped following domestic football in the 2000's after being let down time and time again. Too many scandals, match fixing, etc. and I lost respect for those who worked in the business. I started to support Charlton in 2004 and English football has since become the only interest of mine when it comes to following certain leagues. There have been no substantial reforms in Chinese football in the past decade so - much as this sounds negative - I'm not going to waste my time and emotion on it...

AddicksAddict

@JessieAddick If you get a visit from the secret police after your contributions to this thread, you know where to come to claim political asylum.

NornIrishAddick

AddicksAddict said:

@JessieAddick If you get a visit from the secret police after your contributions to this thread, you know where to come to claim political asylum.

I think you'll find, if it's related to CAFC, it's a different kind of asylum....

Jessie

AddicksAddict said:

@JessieAddick If you get a visit from the secret police after your contributions to this thread, you know where to come to claim political asylum.

Lol... thanks

c4fcdenmark

Imagine if a n English team in the next best league was forced to field a large number of Belgians.