Shanghai's Hulk celebrates a goal with teammates at the Shanghai Stadium on March 15, 2017.
Photographer: Power Sport Images/Getty Images AsiaPacEconomics
How China Is Spending Billions to Conquer World Soccer
The goal is to build a league than can compete with Europe’s biggest and produce a national team capable of having a shot at the World Cup.
It’s barely five years since Mads Davidsen arrived in China to coach kids at soccer. Now the 34-year-old Dane has found himself helping run one of the most valuable teams in the professional Chinese Super League.
The breathtaking speed of change in China has reached the world’s most popular game. It’s turned transplants like Davidsen into accidental pioneers helping to create a new, staggering $740 billion sports industry by 2025, underpinned by a full-frontal assault on soccer.