Can China win the soccer World Cup with a handful of naturalised players? Probably not
- President Xi Jinping has made no secret of his desire for China to one day host and maybe even win football’s greatest prize
- But a few passport-switching foreigners are unlikely to be enough to make his dreams come true
On his identity card he is listed as ethnic Han.
Several foreign soccer players and other sportspeople have become Chinese citizens in recent years, many of them drawn by the huge financial rewards on offer.
Naturalisation has a long history in many countries, but it is a new concept in China, whose football association only publicly announced it would use it to boost its talent pool late last year. President Xi Jinping’s passion for the game and ambitions for China to host and maybe one day win the World Cup has been public knowledge since before he became leader.
John Hou Saeter, who was born to a Norwegian father and Chinese mother, in February became the first professional footballer to switch to Chinese citizenship. The 21-year-old, now known as Hou Yongyong, plays for Beijing Sinobo Guoan, one of the top teams in the Chinese Super League.
Another English player, Tyias Browning, recently joined Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao and is set to complete the process of applying for Chinese citizenship soon, Reuters reported last month.
