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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’s like experiencing a “parallel universe”.
The Chinese men’s football team did not qualify for the World Cup finals, but Chinese audiences have been paying close attention to the matches in Qatar through television and the Internet.
The scenes of World Cup fans enjoying the game and celebrating the victory in Qatar without masks and anti-epidemic controls made some Chinese netizens even more dissatisfied with the continuous blockade in their country.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia and Japan, the two teams that overwhelmed the Chinese team in the Asian qualifiers to qualify for the World Cup, achieved success in this week’s competition. He lamented the stagnation of the Chinese men’s soccer team.
Chinese elements of the World Cup
China has not entered the World Cup finals in the past 20 years, but China has a huge fan market and a leader who has always been considered a fan.
The official media CCTV is the live broadcaster of the World Cup in mainland China, and the major official media also hope to maximize China’s “presence” in the World Cup.
“Global Times” published an editorial on the opening day of the World Cup, extolling the “Chinese elements” of the Qatar World Cup – from the Lusail Stadium, the final venue built by Chinese companies, to the new energy buses, to China’s gift to Qatar before the World Cup The giant pandas “Jingjing” and “Sihai” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that these elements “convey the Chinese people’s best wishes for the World Cup”.
On the field, like the World Cup in Russia four years ago, the Chinese advertisements of Chinese companies frequently appeared on the billboards beside the field.
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China presented giant pandas to Qatar as a gift for the World Cup.
Epidemic lockdown – “Not a planet?”
However, during the World Cup, China was experiencing the worst outbreak of the new crown epidemic in half a year. The number of new infections in a single 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 are in a state of restricted business. 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 “dynamic clearing” policy continues, and it coincides with the World Cup. Chinese netizens cannot fail to notice the contrast between the country’s tight control and Qatar’s stadium carnival.
On Tuesday, an open letter titled “Ten Questions” was circulated on China’s WeChat platform, asking ten questions about the Chinese authorities’ new crown 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 it circulated for only a short time.
On Sina Weibo, netizens also talked about the contrast between China and the World Cup in the first few days of the World Cup.
“The crowds in the stands and outside the stadium are so cute…I used to only envy the players in the World Cup, 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. The news of the outbreak of the epidemic in various regions and the extension of the lockdown period.
Most of the posts criticizing or lamenting that China and the rest of the world are dealing with the current COVID-19 pandemic differently are not blocked on Weibo, but there are also netizens who are still critical of other countries’ massive relaxation of restrictions while the global epidemic is not over. expressed disapproval.
At present, there is no obvious sign of relaxation of China’s “dynamic zeroing” policy. The latest notice issued by China’s National Health and Medical Commission in November still emphasizes that “the prevention and control situation is still severe and complicated, and we must maintain strategic focus and do a good job in epidemic prevention and control in a scientific and precise manner.”
China was originally the host country of the 2023 Asian Cup football match, but because it refused to promise to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that it would allow fans to watch the match on-site, China has given up the right to host it, and it will be hosted by Qatar, which has already hosted the World Cup at that time.
In order to welcome the World Cup, Qatar has lifted travel restrictions related to the new crown epidemic since November 1, and no longer requires nucleic acid testing or vaccine certification, and masks are not required to be worn during the game.
“Light of Asia” throws away Chinese football
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Japan beat Germany in first round of group stage
Asian teams are doing well in this World Cup so far. Although Qatar and Iran lost to their opponents who were obviously stronger in the first two days, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and Japan “surprised” the two-time World Cup champion Argentina and the four-time champion Germany respectively, shocking the world.
This is the first time in the history of the World Cup that two traditional strong teams lost to an Asian team. Therefore, the Saudi and Japanese teams have been dubbed 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 Japanese team’s victory over Germany caused widespread discussion on Weibo. The hashtag “#GermanyvsJapan” was read 1.38 billion times in the 24 hours after the game on Weibo.
“We are all celebrating 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 a Weibo post.
“I hate Japan, but the power that emanates from this small country scares me,” another said.
The Japanese team entered the World Cup finals for the first time in 1998, one term earlier than the Chinese team. However, Japan has entered the World Cup for seven consecutive times since then, while the Chinese team only entered it 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 all over the world. Chinese netizens also praised Japan’s style of football culture and national quality.
“Is it hard to admit there is a gap? Yes, it is hard…this is the reality!” one post said.
World Cup and Human Rights
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Iran players did not sing national anthem before match
The human rights situation in Qatar is one of the off-court topics that have attracted much attention in this World Cup. The performance of Asian teams on this issue has also been discussed by Chinese netizens.
Before Iran’s game against England, the Iranian players collectively refused to sing along when their national anthem was played, in order to protest the Iranian government’s oppression of women and the suppression of human rights demonstrations in the country.
The England team had planned before the game that the captain would wear an armband with the words “One Love” (the same love) and a rainbow pattern on the field to support anti-discrimination and advocacy of diversity, but FIFA banned this according to the rules. England, like many other European captains, called off the plan after expressing that and warning the captain that he might be 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 discussion on the Chinese Internet. The hashtag “#Iran team started without singing the national anthem” was read 430 million times on Sina Weibo.
Some netizens expressed their appreciation for the Iranian players’ voice for women, calling them “real men”.
“Iranian players only lost a game but earned the respect of the whole world,” one Weibo post said.
On the WeChat platform, an article titled “Twenty Two Are Men” has more than 100,000 views. The article praised the behavior of England and Iran players “beyond football, beyond borders”.
A comment under the article said: “Twenty-two are people.”
“Some people can give up life for freedom, and some people can give up everything for life,” another comment said.
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 Qatar World Cup is regarded 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 think that for what we Europeans have done for the past 3,000 years, we should apologize for the next 3,000 years and then moralize others,” Infantino told media ahead of the World Cup.