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Chinese President Xi Jinping is believed to be a fan.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is on its fourth day. Chinese media and social networks have paid great attention to this competition as always. It seems that Chinese netizens are experiencing a “parallel universe”.
The Chinese men’s soccer team did not qualify for the World Cup finals, but Chinese audiences have been paying close attention to the games in Qatar through television and the Internet.
The scenes of World Cup fans enjoying the game and celebrating a victory in Qatar without masks and anti-epidemic controls made some Chinese netizens even more dissatisfied with the ongoing blockade in their country.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia and Japan, the two teams that defeated the Chinese team in the Asian qualifiers to qualify for the World Cup, have had success in the competition this week, defeating traditional powerhouses Argentina and Germany respectively. the stagnant development of Chinese men’s football.
Chinese elements of the World Cup
China has not entered the finals of the World Cup in the last 20 years, but the Chinese market has a huge fan base and a leader who has always been considered a fan.
The official CCTV media is the live broadcaster of the World Cup in mainland China, and the main official media also hopes to maximize China’s “presence” in the World Cup.
In an editorial published on the opening day of the World Cup, the “Global Times” praised the “Chinese elements” of the World Cup in Qatar – from Lusail Stadium, the last venue built by Chinese companies, to the new energy buses, to China before the World Cup the giant pandas “Jingjing” and “Sihai” were presented to Qatar, saying that these elements “convey the best wishes of the Chinese people for the World Cup.”
On the field, like the World Cup in Russia four years ago, Chinese advertisements of Chinese companies often appeared on the billboards next to the field.
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China presented giant pandas to Qatar as a gift for the World Cup.
Epidemic closing – “Isn’t it a planet?”
However, during the World Cup, China experienced the worst cases of the new crown epidemic in half a year. The number of new infections in one day announced on Thursday exceeded 31,000. Non-essential shops were suspended in many areas, and residents were asked to limit their activities.
The number of flights between Qatar and China has been greatly reduced, which has reduced the number of Chinese people who went to the scene to watch the game in person. Even in China, many provinces and cities in limited business condition. According to Chinese media reports, “90% of people will choose to watch football at home.”
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During the World Cup, a bar in Shanghai had almost no customers.
China’s “zero dynamic” policy continues, and it coincides with the World Cup. Chinese netizens cannot fail to notice the contrast between the country’s tight control and the Qatar stadium carnival.
On Tuesday, an open letter titled “Ten Questions” was circulated on China’s WeChat platform, raising ten questions about the Chinese authorities’ new corona epidemic prevention policies, including the World Cup in Qatar.
“The World Cup in Qatar is about to start. The fans didn’t see anyone wearing a mask, and they didn’t hear that they had to see a nucleic acid test certificate. Don’t they live on the same planet as us?”
The article was blocked after only circulating for a short time.
On Sina Weibo, netizens also talked about the contrast between China and the World Cup during the first days of the World Cup.
“The crowds in the stands and outside the stadium are so cute… I used to only envy the World Cup players, but now I envy the spectators sitting in the stands !” said a Weibo post.
Another comment said, “The World Cup is very popular. I suddenly saw the news about Xinjiang, Zhengzhou and Chongqing, which made me feel like a world away. Aren’t we wrong? I really want to go out!” The comment mentioned also News about cases and prolonged lockdowns in several regions.
Most of the posts criticizing or lamenting that China and the rest of the world are handling the current COVID-19 pandemic differently are not blocked on Weibo, but there are also netizens who n still being critical of the massive relaxation of other countries’ restrictions while the global epidemic has not ended, disapproval was expressed.
At present, there is no obvious sign of China’s “zero dynamic” policy being relaxed. The latest notice issued by China’s National Health and Medical Commission in November still emphasizes that “the prevention and control situation is still serious and complex, and we must maintain a strategic focus and do a good job in all aspects of epidemic prevention and control in a scientific and precise manner.”
China was originally the host country for the 2023 Asian Cup soccer match, but because it refused to promise the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that it would allow fans to watch the match on site, China has relinquished the right to maintain it. , and will be hosted by Qatar, which has already hosted the World Cup at that time.
In order to host the World Cup, Qatar has lifted travel restrictions related to the new crown epidemic since November 1, and nucleic acid tests or vaccine certification are no longer required, and masks are not required to be worn during the match.
The ‘Light of Asia’ leaves Chinese football behind
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Japan beat Germany in the first round of the group stage
Asian teams are doing well in this World Cup so far. Although Qatar and Iran lost to their clearly stronger opponents in the first two days, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and Japan “surprised” two-time World Cup champions Argentina and the four-time champion of Germany respectively, surprising the world.
This is the first time in the history of the World Cup that two traditionally strong teams lost to an Asian team, therefore, the Saudi and Japanese teams were called the “Light of Asia” on the Chinese Internet.
The Saudi and Japanese teams were in the same group as the Chinese team in the previous World Cup Asian qualifiers. The Chinese team failed to qualify. Many netizens lamented the gap between Chinese football and the top Asian teams.
In particular, the victory of the Japanese team over Germany caused a wide discussion on Weibo. The hashtag #GermanyvsJapan was read 1.38 billion times in the 24 hours after the match on Weibo.
“We all celebrate Japan’s victory over Germany, but we, who started together at the beginning, are now gone, so I have to feel a little sad,” said the Weibo post.
“I hate Japan, but the power emanating from this small country scares me,” said another.
The Japanese team entered the World Cup finals for the first time in 1998, one season earlier than the Chinese team. However, Japan has entered the World Cup for seven consecutive times since then, while the Chinese team entered it only once in 2002.
After the game, the Japanese fans celebrated the victory in Qatar and did not forget to clean up the garbage, which was praised around the world. Chinese netizens also praised the style of Japanese football culture and national quality.
“Is it difficult to admit that there is a gap? Yes, it is difficult…this is the reality!” said one post.
The World Cup and Human Rights
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The Iranian players did not sing the national anthem before the match
The human rights situation in Qatar is one of the topics off the court that has attracted a lot of attention in this World Cup. The performance of Asian teams on this issue has also been discussed by Chinese netizens.
Before Iran’s match against England, Iranian players refused to sing along when their national anthem was played, in order to protest against the Iranian government’s oppression of women and stop human rights demonstrations in the country.
The England team had planned to have the captain wear an armband with the words “One Love” and a rainbow pattern before the match to support anti-discrimination and diversity advocacy, but FIFA banned this in accordance with England, like many other European captains, abandoned the plan after expressing it and warning the captain that he could have booked for it.
But the England team still protested by kneeling on one knee before the game.
In the end, the Iranian team lost 2-6, but the attitude of the players caused a discussion on the Chinese Internet. The hashtag #Iran which was started without the singing of the national anthem was read 430 million times on Sina Weibo.
Some netizens expressed their appreciation for the voice of Iranian female players, calling them “real men”.
“The Iranian players lost only one game, but won the respect of the world,” said one Weibo post.
On the WeChat platform, an article titled “Twenty Two Are Men” has more than 100,000 views. The article praised the actions of England and Iran players “beyond football, beyond borders”.
A comment under the article said: “Twenty two are people.”
“Some people can give up their lives for freedom, and some people can give up everything for their lives,” said another comment.
However, some netizens pointed out that protesting human rights during the World Cup confuses politics and sports, and is a “double standard” for Western audiences.
The World Cup in Qatar is considered by the outside world as the most “political” World Cup in history. FIFA President Giovanni Infantino (Infantino) once criticized the West’s criticism of this World Cup.
“I believe that for what we as Europeans have done over the last 3,000 years, we should apologize for the next 3,000 years and then moralize others,” Infantino told the media before the World Cup.
