Chairman of Auxerre: We must build Auxerre into a bridgehead for Chinese football to go overseas
6686 Sports News on November 11 In an interview with "Football News", Zhou Yunjie, chairman of the board of directors of Auxerre Club, said that he would be committed to strengthening the linkage with Chinese football.
How was the "Chinese Rhinoceros Team" study in France project initially promoted?
Zhou Yunjie: "The idea has been brewing for a long time. As early as 2019, I applied to the French Football Association to form a Chinese youth team (planned to be 17 to 18 years old) to participate in local league events. The Burgundy region agreed, but was Due to various reasons, it has not been possible. Thanks to the full promotion of the Chinese Football Association and the Shandong Football Association, the project has been implemented."
From the perspective of club operations, investment must be rewarded. Where do you think the return will be?
Zhou Yunjie: "The core of the project is not immediate benefits, but to help lay a solid foundation for Chinese football. Now that Chinese players have no market value in Europe, it is unrealistic to talk about market-based benefits first. Japanese players in major European leagues can form four or five teams, but we can't even form one. To come out, we must first give our children a chance to compete with strong opponents. This is the key. Only by giving Chinese players a better platform and opportunity to study abroad can we improve the overall level of the national team."
Chinese football youth training has two models of team and individual study abroad. Is Auxerre trying it?
Zhou Yunjie: "They are all doing it. Chinese football now has no winning experience and can only cross the river by feeling the stones. We now need to try different paths to allow players to truly integrate into the European League competition system."
Based on the experience of French youth training, what do you think the problems of Chinese football lie in?
Zhou Yunjie: "There are two key problems. One is that the competition intensity of Chinese children is not enough, and the other is that they 'compete for the sake of competition' and value results too much. In fact, there is no practical value for a 14- to 16-year-old child to win a championship. I We should let them rotate to gain experience and not be afraid of losing. High-level training and competition are the key to development.”
Not long ago, the chairman of the French Football Association held talks with the Chinese Football Association and the Chinese Football Association and reached an intention to cooperate. Is the Chinese Rhinoceros team's trip to France the result of that meeting? What role does Auxerre play in Sino-French football cooperation?
Zhou Yunjie: "This is an important part of the cooperation between the two football associations, and it can be seen that both sides attach great importance to this matter. We need the assistance of the French Football Association to let Chinese children get in touch with international advanced football concepts and platforms as soon as possible. If you can't play in the first team, you can first play in the youth team to accumulate experience. It has been 9 years since I acquired Auxerre. My original intention was to build it into a bridgehead for Chinese football to go overseas and contribute to the revitalization of Chinese football. It is an honor to work for Chinese football."
