Holding the Asian Cup will help to promote the implementation of the China Football Reform and Development Master Plan, effectively promote the development of football infrastructure, youth football and social football, speed up the popularization and improvement of football in China, promote economic and social development and urban construction, strengthen exchanges with Asian countries, and enhance China's international image and influence. China Football Association will join hands with AFC and the host city to prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup and jointly create a wonderful, far-reaching and successful Asian football event.
● Asian Cup ●
The Asian Cup is the most valuable football match in Asia and the oldest intercontinental football match except the America's Cup. China Football Association announced that hosting the Asian Cup in China will definitely promote the reform and development of football, greatly boost the enthusiasm and atmosphere of football development, help improve the software and hardware environment of football development, help improve the level of football in China and promote the popularization and development of football in China.
This is the second time that China has hosted the Asian Cup, and it is also the second time that China has hosted the Asian Cup after 19. The last one was held in 2004.
In order to meet this important international event, Xiamen has already started preparations!
Brand-new venues are under construction.
Municipal Sports Bureau: The new sports center is located in Liuwu Store in Xiang 'an, where the Asian Cup will be held.
The main stadium will start construction at the end of May 2020, with a construction area of 6,543,800+3,000 square meters, which can accommodate 60,000 spectators.
(renderings of competition venues)
About the football history of Xiamen.
Xiamen, as one of the earliest "five trading ports" after the Opium War, was first exposed to western culture: 1898 founded Huaying Academy in Gulangyu. Since then, the posture of football players can often be seen on the court of Gulangyu Island, and China modern football has also begun to take root in Xiamen.
According to historical records, Huaying Football Team came into being after the British Presbyterian Church founded Huaying College in Gulangyu, Xiamen in 1898, becoming the first regular football team in Xiamen. 12 (19 10), Huaying Football Team visited Quanzhou and played a friendly match with Quanzhou Peiyuan Middle School Football Team. This is the first cross-regional football friendly match between Huaying Football Team and the first recorded sports competition in Xiamen's modern history. Huaying Public School has been entrusted with the task of guiding students to play football by teachers who love sports, such as Su Xing III and Jin Xifu, from its founding to the eve of the Anti-Japanese War.
"They also develop special football training courses for students, which are very professional." Every semester, the teacher will divide the athletes into four teams: tiger, leopard, lion and elephant, and train every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, taking defense, conduction, cover and sprint as the basic courses. After these quasi-professional trainings, Huaying football team began to show its advantages on the court. After visiting Quanzhou, it went to Shantou, Fuzhou and other places to compete with local sister schools. During the period, he won more than one game and almost became a "winning general" on the court.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, football in Xiamen stopped for a time, but the football players who moved to Quanzhou and Zhangzhou to escape the war spontaneously promoted the development of local football and enriched the football atmosphere in southern Fujian.
After the founding of New China, Huaying College became the second middle school of Xiamen University. For decades, Xiamen No.2 Middle School has trained more than 300 talents for football teams organized by city teams, provincial teams, national teams and society, and has become an important cradle school for youth football in Xiamen. From 65438 to 0996, Xiamen established the first joint-stock football club in China and began to fight in the national second-class league. Since then, Xiamen football has entered the field of vision of China fans. A series of outstanding achievements such as 1999 National Football League A and B, 2002 National Football League A and B, and 2005 China Football Association League A have established Xiamen's position in the professional football industry.
From 2065438 to 2008, Xiamen invested 24 million yuan in football youth training. Mass football is an important part of national sports and mass sports. By 20 18, the city has built 386 open football fields, with an average of 0.94 football fields per 10,000 people.
Xiamen pays attention to the cultivation and development of football talents. Up to now, 529 professional football coaches and 20 professional referees have been registered in Xiamen, which fully guarantees the development of football in Xiamen.