Coronavirus: Mega ground signals ambitions

SHANGHAI • China will make a multibillion-dollar splurge on football stadiums, ramping up ambitions to be a superpower in the sport and host a World Cup.

The building spree is taking place despite the coronavirus pandemic which has brought much of the world to a standstill, ravaging economies and putting live sport on hold.

But with the outbreak receding in China, where it emerged in December, eight-time Chinese Super League (CSL) champions Guangzhou Evergrande last week began construction on their 12 billion yuan (S$2.4 billion) home.

With a capacity of 100,000, the lotus flower-shaped stadium will, for a time, trump Barcelona's Camp Nou - which is set for expansion - as the world's biggest football arena, once it is completed by the end of 2022.

Evergrande Group, a major property developer founded by one of China's richest men, said it also intends to build two more 80,000-seat stadiums in China.

The country will have at least 12 major new football stadiums two years from now, said the state-run Southern Metropolis Daily, calling it "a new era for Chinese football".

Most will be used for the newly expanded 2021 Club World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, but President Xi Jinping has his eyes on the biggest prize of all.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said in June that he would welcome a Chinese bid to stage the 2030 World Cup, the next one up for grabs.

Guangzhou Evergrande's new stadium, however, is not holding Asian Cup games and the stadium will not be ready for the Club World Cup, even though the tournament could be delayed. Critics queried why a club that averages about 50,000 a match needs such a big arena.

"I think Evergrande may have two considerations. First, a 100,000-seat stadium might come in handy if China hosts a World Cup final or opening ceremony," said Ji Yuyang, a journalist for the Oriental Sports Daily.

"Another point is that Evergrande will be able to make a statement by saying that they have the largest professional football stadium in the world, with the largest number of spectators."

Most stadiums used by Chinese football teams were built for multiple sports. They are falling into disrepair and facilities are poor. Replacing them with gleaming, football-specific arenas fits with Mr Xi's masterplan to transform the sport in the country on and off the pitch.

Professor Simon Chadwick said the rush on new stadiums sends a message that "China is developing and becoming healthier".

"It's almost the soft power of stadiums," said the director of the Centre for the Eurasian Sport Industry at Emlyon Business School.

"China is trying to use these hugely distinctive stadium designs as a way of attracting people and attention, of getting people to understand that China wants the same things that other countries want."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE