More than window shopping? "Kenny" Huang Jianhua and the Liverpool bid
Friday, 6th August 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Earlier this week, "Kenny" Huang Jianhua entered the UK media spotlight when "it emerged" (The Times' words) that he was trying to lead a purchase of the English Premier League's Liverpool FC. Several reports indicated that he was working on behalf of the Chinese Investment Corporation (CIC), China's sovereign wealth fund. Midweek, Huang's PR people issued a press release saying that he "has registered interest in investing in Liverpool FC but has made no formal bid."Kenny Huang buying Liverpool FC? Certainly not on his own. Chinese government buying Liverpool? Very unlikely. This story already has too many unnamed sources, but I have to add one more: This morning I spoke to someone close to the CIC, who says that people there who would be involved in such a deal if it were in the works, and that person "have never heard of Huang Jianhua."
Huang (left) with Chinese Baseball Association chairman Lei Jun
As Gady Epstein, Forbes' man in Beijing, explains, it seems to make no sense for CIC to get involved in English soccer. The CIC's job is to make money, and despite being high-passion and high-profile organizations, soccer clubs are not high-profit. But China Daily reports that over the past two weeks, CIC has divested almost precisely enough of its investments to raise the 351.4 million pounds that The Guardian says is a rumored sale price for Liverpool. Matt Scott at The Guardian suggests that CIC is interested in Liverpools' TV rights and is speculating that the team can improve its finances by better leveraging media. There is also wide speculation that the club is undervalued, meaning that whoever buys it could possibly make a quick profit reselling it soon.
Huang clearly has interest in buying the club—or, more accurately, helping an investor or a group of investors make the purchase. He's no Mikhail Prokhorov, the self-made Russian billionaire and new majority owner of the New Jersey Nets. He needs other people's money to get this done.
As for the CIC/Huang connection, Epstein wisely guesses that someone got wind of a relatioship Huang has or says he has with CIC, and blew it out of proportion. But I'm inclined to think that Huang leaked the information himself. Though he shies away from direct media contact, he likes to manipulate the media. When he held a rare press conference in Beijing last year to announce his partnership with the Chinese Baseball Association, as reported here, the whole affair seemed targeted at potential sponosors who could help fund the Chinese Youth Baseball League, for which his company, QSL, had no actual plans. Also, Huang is a broker who seems unsatisfied with hanging in the background—he wants to be the face of the deals that he's involved in, and self-promotes accordingly.
Could it be that he leaked the Liverpool story to generate some buzz, and signal to potential investors that he was in a position to help them bid for Liverpool? Or maybe he learned that CIC was liquidating in preparation to make a bid, and he hopes to bluff his way into representing them.
Whatever is going on, Liverpool fans should know soon who their team's next owner will be, as the current owners are trying to get the deal done by next week.
Tags: Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Liverpool FC, Premier League, QSL, soccer
Where to Watch the World Cup: Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming
Friday, 11th June 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (3)
Don't see your Chinese city on here? Want to tell us where you're watching? Leave a comment!The closest that China's favorite team is getting to the FIFA World Cup this time around is last week's warmup game against France, which underdog (understatement!) China won 1-0 on a free kick goal from Deng Zhuo Xiang in the 68th minute.
But this country has had plenty of time to adjust to its absence from the 2010 World Cup, and there are plenty of fans here supporting Italy, Argentina, England, Brazil and Spain—any team that's a contender has a fan base in China.
This is the biggest sporting event since the Olympics, and bars are looking to cash in with viewing parties galore over the next month. Here's a quick breakdown of some great sources of information on where to watch:
Beijing Boyce is the capital's most prolific eating and drinking blogger. Lucky for us, Boyce is also a sports fan. Here's his extensive list of place to watch the World Cup. He's also got recommendations on where to buy country flags and gear, and no doubt will be reporting on the viewing experience once the games start.
The Beijinger doesn't seem to have a direct link to a list of viewing options, but bars will upload their promotions here, and users will chime in on
the best places to watch.
City Weekend's Beijing and Shanghai sites both have World Cup pub guides. Charles Silverman (Beijing) highlights the best places to watch outdoors, the hidden sports spots, and some swanky joints for fans with deep pockets. CW Shanghai offers a quick list of bars, and tips on where to buy face paint and jerseys.
Finally Kunming, my Chinese hometown, seems to have come a long way in sports broadcasts in the past two years. GoKunming's list is evidence that Chapter One now has a lot of competition for fans who don't want to watch alone at home.
Tags: FIFA World Cup, football, soccer, sports bars
Around the Web: A basketball MVP, a tennis upset, and an unpopular proposal for soccer
Saturday, 20th March 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Mengke Bateer who, unbeknownst to many a casual fan, was the first Chinese player to win an NBA championship, was selected as this season's MVP for the Chinese Basketball Association. The big guy averaged 13.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. It looks to me like this is a chance to honor one of China's most historically important players who will probably retire soon (Bateer is 35) than it does like a recognition of a stellar 2009-10 season. Bateer's Xinjiang Guanghui are in second place in league standings, with league playoffs starting next Wednesday. All-Star Weekend is March 20-21 at Wukesong Arena in Beijing.China's Zheng Jie (seeded 18th) beat Maria Sharapova (seeded 10th) at the BNP Paribas Open, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Sharapova was battling injuries in the match at Indian Wells.
Wei Di, the new chief of the Chinese Football Association, has introduced the apparently unpopular idea of entering China's under-21 national team as the 17th side in the Chinese Soccer League, to give those young players more time playing together. He hopes the plan will help him reach his self-imposed goal of qualifying a team for the FIFA World Cup in 2014, without dismantling the centrally planned football development system. The CSL begins play next week.
Gold medal-winning speed skater Zhou Yang angered some sports officials when she thanked her real mother and not Mother China (Reuters). David Yang at China Sports Review argues that the state has a point.
Tags: basketball, CBA, football, Mengke Bateer, soccer, tennis, Wei Di, Zheng Jie
Catching up: Chinese soccer scandal saga
Friday, 26th February 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
A win over South Korea was a rare bit of good news for Chinese soccer
China's domestic soccer and basketball leagues are notoriously corrupt. Match-fixing is just one symptom of a system that's completely broken. In January, officials launched a purge of the national soccer league and national team. Among the more incredible developments was the revelation that players had actually bribed their way into national team tryouts. I apologize for not having brought you more updates on this crazy story. Here is a link to a Global Times editorial by Beijing native David Yang on the toxic effect that corruption has on sports.
The dragnet has already netted more than 100 players, coaches and officials (including the sport's top official), and spawned some shocking anecdotes (though probably not so shocking to anyone who closely follows the league). Earlier this week, the Chinese Football Association disqualified Qingdao Hailifeng for trying to score on itself to fatten the team president's gambling wins. You have to read it to believe it, but basically it looks like this: With his team up 3-0, team president Du realizes one more goal for either team will increase his winnings on an international betting Web site. He puts a call in to coach Du, who sends a text message to a player on the field, who rallies the support of two teammates. They try, but fail, to score on their own goal (diagram from a Chinese newspaper, with translations, from Danwei).
I remember when I first arrived in China, and my friends here would gripe: "1.3 billion people and we can't find 11 to field a decent football team." The reason why has only become more evident the longer I am here. And it's well known that the problem isn't isolated to soccer. In an editorial cartoon in a recent issue of Titan Sports News, a figure representing Chinese Basketball hid behind one representing Chinese Soccer. He wore a grin and the bubble above his head read: "They can't see me here behind Soccer."
It's much too early to tell if efforts to clean up the sport will actually bring the payola to a halt and improve the now atrocious level of play, but a couple of good pieces of news must give some hope to China's frustrated fans. China won the East Asian Football Championship about two weeks ago (2-0 over Hong Kong, 0-0 tie with Japan, 3-0 win over South Korea); and Beijing Guo'an, reigning CFA champs and one of few domestic sports teams with a passionate fan base, beat Melbourne Victory 1-0 in a match at the Workers' Stadium just a few days ago.
China-Korea soccer/football image: QQ.com
Tags: Beijing Guo'an, CFA, football, soccer
Looking back: China's top 10 sports stories in 2009
Monday, 21st December 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
The Bird's Nest is just one of a growing number of white elephants in China. Jinan's Olympic Stadium, above, was built for this year's National Games.
1. Chinese soccer league match fixing
Bribery, match fixing, betting—the Chinese Soccer League has long been tainted with some of sport's worst scourges. In November, police arrested 16 players, coaches and officials in an attempt to clean up the league. But observers say that a lot more still needs to be done.
2.Chinese swimming makes a splash in Rome
When Zhang Lin became China's first male swimming world champ in Rome this summer--winning the 800-meter freestyle in world record time--media quickly crowned him the Liu Xiang of the pool. But unlike Liu, Zhang had some backup from his teammates, as China put in its best ever performance at the world meet. With 4 golds and 10 medals, China was behind only the United States and Germany. Though Zhang Lin dominated the headlines, it was the women—led by Liu Zige and Zhao Jing--who were responsible for China's breakout. Female swimmers accounted for all but two of China's medals, and three of the four golds.
3. Diving judging scandal
China's national games diving competition was shaken up when one judge quit late in the competition, and then leveled accusations that results were fixed and that Zhou Jihong, head of the Chinese diving federation, calls all the shots.
4. Sports official spills secrets
Former national volleyball coach and long-time senior sports administration leader Yuan Weimin published his memoir, "Yuan Weimin: Storms of the Chinese Sports World" in October. Among the stories in Yuan's memoir that are making sports officials squirm is the tale of a shady vote-trading arrangement that put Belgium's Jacques Rogge at the head of the International Olympic Committee and brought the 2008 games to Beijing.
4. Empty Nest
The Beijing Olympics' iconic building, Beijing National Stadium--aka the Bird's Nest, aka a $400 million project that takes $70 million to maintain annually, aka a venue that required the relocation of thousands of families—has hosted only four events since the games ended 16 months ago (including an opera and a martial arts show that couldn't have possibly turned a profit). The situation is so bad that in the fall, the state took back operating control of the venue from its private owners.
5. Liu Xiang's return
A grimacing Liu Xiang limping around the Bird's Nest track was one of the most potent images of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The former Olympic and world record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, an athlete who rivals Yao Ming in prominence in China, was unable to run because of an injury to his Achilles tendon. More than a year later, he put doubts to rest about whether his career was finished, returning to competition in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, where he finished second in a 13.15-second photo finish.
6. China win's women's curling worlds
Curling? On a top 10 list? Stick with me here… When China's women's curling team won world championships last year, skipper Wang Bingyu and her teammates became instant media stars on the mainland. The current team is China's first generation of curlers, and if Canada doesn't figure out how to beat them at the 2010 Winter Olympics, curling will become only the second team sport in which China has won an Olympic gold medal (women's volleyball being the other, in 1984 and 2004).
7. Dealmaker Kenny Huang
Last May, news broke that a Chinese investor was nearing a deal to purchase a 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA franchise. That investor was Huang Jianhua, or Kenny Huang, who subsequently made a deal to promote youth baseball with the Chinese Baseball Association and to purchase a team in the Chinese Basketball Association. Last week, reports indicated that the Cavs purchase might go through before the end of the year. The lead on the deal is now Albert Hung, but Huang's still very much involved and seems to have dreams of a Chinese sports empire--keep an eye on this guy.
9. HSBC Champions
Shanghai's HSBC Champions golf tournament was elevated this year to World Golf Championship status, with $7 million in prize money. Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els finished first and second, and China got its last look at a squeaky clean Tiger Woods, who finished sixth. In his reporting on the event for ESPN, Shanghaiist editor Dan Washburn wrote that the event was well timed, as the inclusion of golf in the Olympics could provide a boost to the sport's popularity and official support here. HSBC Champions returns to Shanghai next year, which means it will take place alongside the Shanghai World Expo.
10. China disappears from the NBA
While Huang buys his way into the NBA, Chinese players are limping out. Yao Ming is missing the current season with a foot fracture, and the Nets' Yi Jianlian played just four games before sitting out at least the next 24 with injuries. The next great hope, Sun Yue, was dropped by the Lakers, then picked up and dropped by the New York Knicks. The NBA could really use another once-in-a-lifetime athlete like Yao right about now.
Related:
Zhang Lin, China's first male swimming champ
China Daily: Enthusiasm fades for Bird's Nest
LA Times on Yuan Weimin
ESPN.go.com: Olympics makes China major player in golf
Tags: Bird's Nest, curling, Dan Washburn, football, HSBC Champions, Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Liu Xiang, Liu Zige, NBA, soccer, Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian, Yuan Weimin, Zhang Lin
Beijing Guo'an wins Chinese Soccer League Championship
Monday, 2nd November 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As predicted twice now by CST writer Cameron Wilson (the first time more impressive than the second), Beijing Guo'an secured the Chinese Soccer League championship Saturday with a 4-0 win over Hangzhou Greentown. It's the first title for Guo'an.There's a lot wrong with the CSL, but at least in Beijing they are getting one thing right—they have built a fan base that actually really cares about their team. They show up to games and buy team gear, which is more than can be said for the local basketball team, the Beijing Ducks. Scuffles broke out in Beijing last when some couldn't get tickets to Guo'an's title-clinching game. Security was beefed up for the actual game—witness these photos from Beijing Boyce.
The level of play in the CSL is generally considered poor, but that doesn't stop the crowds from filling up the Workers' Stadium, many of them sporting the team's green jerseys. As for the Beijing team's success, David Yang at China Sports Review says the lion's share of credit should, but won't, go to Lee Jang-Soo (李章洙), the Korean coach who Yang says "transformed the way Guo'an played." Lee was fired about six weeks ago, even as his team sat in second place in the CSL. For an English language perspective on Guo'an's championship season, check out this Sina blog.
Tags: Beijing Guo'an, CSL, football, soccer, Workers' Stadium
Titan Front Page: Kaka vs. Messi and Kobe's best buddy Sun
Thursday, 11th June 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
The rest of the page is all basketball--a column by Zhang Weiping（张卫平）about the Orlando Magic's struggles against the Lakers, and a photo of Sun Yue sitting next to, or as the caption seems to joke, protecting, Kobe on the flight to Orlando for Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Forgive us if we are a little skeptical about the MVP runner-up's motivation for creating a photo op with a player who's been relegated to the D-League and just happens to be one of three NBA players from China.
Titan Sports is China's leading sports newspaper, putting out issues every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is published jointly by Hunan Art and Culture Publishing House and Titan Publishing House (Danwei).
Tags: FC Barcelona, football, Kaka, Lakers, Messi, NBA, Real Madrid, soccer, Titan front page, 张卫平
Titan front page: Guangdong CBA champs, Rockets-Lakers series, Barcelona's win
Monday, 4th May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The story at the right of the page (科比+湖人:强敌, or Kobe + Lakers, Formidable Opponents）is about the playoff series between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. Inside, nine pages are dedicated to coverage of the series, which starts Monday night in Los Angeles (Tuesday morning in China). It's the first time that Yao's Rockets have advanced past the first round of the playoffs. If you didn't know already, Kobe Bryant has more fans in China than he has in Los Angeles, and Yao Ming is, well, Chinese, so the conference semifinals should be as widely watched here the NBA Finals will be.
The story at the bottom of today's front page comes from European soccer, specifically Barcelona's 6-2 upset of Real Madrid.
Titan Sports is China's leading sports newspaper, putting out issues every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is published jointly by Hunan Art and Culture Publishing House and Titan Publishing House (Danwei).
Tags: Barcelona, CBA, football, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, NBA, Real Madrid, Rockets, soccer, Titan front page, Yao Ming
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