Hello everyone, I'm Gao Zhikai. The much-anticipated World Cup is about to begin. This World Cup has a unique feature: it is co-hosted by three countries—the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This is the first time in the history of the World Cup that three countries jointly host the event.
Actually, this World Cup could indeed attract great attention from countries around the world. This time, not only are three countries hosting the event together, but the number of participating teams has also increased, making it the occasion with the largest number of teams ever. Therefore, everyone is looking forward to a successful and exciting World Cup.
But this World Cup started with a major upset. The Iran team was participating in the tournament, and the United States is still at war with Iran. So the US tried every possible means to prevent Iran from competing in the World Cup smoothly. What methods did they use? For example, they refused to issue visas to the Iranian team. Later, they said they could issue visas, but as of now, it is said that 15 people still haven’t received their visas.
This definitely has a negative impact on the Iranian team's participation in this World Cup. Whether it's the players, coaches, administrative staff, or support staff—if they are not properly equipped, how can they form a complete team? The Americans have even put forward more difficult requirements. They say: "Yes, I agree that you come to the United States to participate in the World Cup, but what I offer you is a special visa." What does this mean? You must enter the country today, and at the same time, you must leave it again. So, within a day, you have to enter the country and then leave it again. Just think about it—if you want to go to the United States, whether it's Los Angeles or Seattle, how can you ensure that you enter in the morning to participate in the game, and then leave the country according to your strict regulations? This is actually a way of putting difficulties in the way.
The United States continues to create obstacles for Iranians to participate in the World Cup @CCTV.com
This time, the United States, along with Canada and Mexico, hosted the North American World Cup, which was open to the whole world. However, this posed various challenges for Iran. President Trump indeed played a key role in this situation. He had a good relationship with the chairman of the World Cup organizing committee, and they praised each other and supported each other. This created a "good story" among the world's football events.
But on the other hand, this also shows that sports are more than just sports. Sports are closely linked to politics and geopolitics. Trump has shown this in a very obvious way. He wants to use his so-called prestige to influence the hosting of the World Cup, and now he wants to influence the proceedings of the World Cup itself, so as to leave his own mark. Many people around the world cannot stand this.
They believe that sports competitions should adhere to a fair and transparent spirit, without any political interference. In particular, sports events should not be turned into geopolitical games. So, what was the outcome of this joint World Cup held by the United States, Canada, and Mexico? Was it truly exciting and thrilling? Or will it become increasingly political due to issues such as the participation of the Iranian team and visa problems, leading to geopolitical implications? Will it end up being another major sports event that suffers significant damage? Let’s wait and see.
As we all know, teams from various countries participating in the World Cup must undergo training and warm-up activities. Therefore, the United States did not allow the Iranian team to enter the country for such warm-up or training activities. This situation forced the Iranian team to settle temporarily in a city near the border between the United States and Mexico.
This means that some of the Iranian team's training needs to take place in Mexico. However, in order to compete in the three preliminary matches in the United States, they need to enter the United States quickly within a day, participate in the matches, and then leave again promptly. Therefore, many countries couldn’t stand it anymore. They asked whether the World Cup Organizing Committee could do something about this situation. Could they engage in diplomatic negotiations with the United States? Since you are the host of the World Cup, could you fulfill your responsibilities as a host? Could you ensure that every participating team has at least the opportunity to prepare and train before competing in the matches?
But it seems that the United States has not made any real improvements, and instead continues to make things more difficult for the Iranian team.
It has also been noted that the US not only makes things difficult for the Iranian team in terms of visas and entry-exit procedures, but the Iranian team also feels subjected to personal attacks, which adds to the difficulties. We know that in the history of world sports competitions, there have indeed been large-scale, serious terrorist attacks against athletes. Therefore, on one hand, we need to deal with the US's requirements regarding visas and entry-exit procedures, and on the other hand, we must also seriously confront any violent or terrorist acts that may be carried out against Iranian athletes within the United States.
So, before this World Cup even begins, the whole world is shocked. Are you, America, not a country that claims to be a major power in the world? You have significant influence in the world. Does that mean you use this influence to make things difficult for a national team participating in the World Cup? What kind of negative impact will this have on America's reputation, credibility, and transparency?
I personally hope that the Iranian team will perform at a high level and show the spirit of the Iranian people. If the Iranian team can continue to play solidly step by step and achieve good results, it will definitely be a spiritual encouragement for the Iranian people. Therefore, we all must pay attention to how the Iranian team will perform throughout the entire tournament and how far they can go.
There was another thrilling event during this World Cup, which involved the issue of broadcasting rights in China. As we all know, the organizers of the World Cup initially set an exorbitant price, and it was said that they even refused to engage in flexible commercial negotiations. Do you think we Chinese are easy to bully?
On the other hand, countries with populations comparable to that of China, such as India, have very low broadcasting costs. As a result, many Chinese people find this unacceptable. Why should we charge such high fees for broadcasting a World Cup match to China? Some voices even suggest that it might be better not to watch the World Cup at all, as not watching it wouldn’t be a huge loss. Therefore, China and the World Cup organizing committee spent a long time arguing over the broadcasting costs. Fortunately, they eventually managed to resolve the issue.
I think China has won everything. One reason is that the Chinese market is extremely important for the World Cup. Why? If they really want to make a huge profit by taking all of China's money, that's not possible.
Firstly, China firmly refuses to agree to this, as it would hurt the feelings of the World Cup and the Chinese market. We Chinese say, "The Chinese team didn’t even make it to the finals. Is it necessary to spend so much money?" Moreover, during the World Cup in the US, Mexico, and Canada, there is a difference of 12 to 15 hours between our time in China and those countries. Chinese fans would have to endure the time difference to watch the match, which is very inconvenient. Therefore, there is also a strong call from within China to say "we won’t watch it."
These factors combined together forced the World Cup organizers to agree to reduce the fees. The advantage is that Chinese citizens will still be able to watch the World Cup matches. Of course, this time it’s quite inconvenient, as it depends on whether everyone has the patience and the ability to spend time, energy, and effort to watch this World Cup in the middle of the night and during a time when schedules are disrupted.
For us in China, I have always felt a great regret that the Chinese team has no chance of reaching the World Cup. Even making it out of Asia is difficult, and reaching the World Cup seems almost impossible. I myself feel very sad about this.
Chinese football junior wins the European championship
Recently, we saw a group of Chinese teenagers who, under the leadership of a coach who didn’t even have a so-called coaching certificate, achieved remarkable results on European arenas. This inspired 1.4 billion Chinese people, and it is estimated that overseas Chinese also felt greatly excited.
This shows that China has the ability to produce excellent players. We have talented individuals. The key is to use the right system and procedures to truly identify the most qualified players and give them opportunities to shine. This will help China gain honor for itself, its families, the Chinese nation, and Chinese society on the international stage.
Since our youth and young generation have proven that we are capable of playing football well, I hope that our Chinese team, especially the men's team, will truly show courage! We should set a goal: when can we break through Asia, and when can we qualify for the World Cup, etc. Let the whole world see that Chinese people can also play football well.
Thank you all. I am Gao Zhikai. I wish everyone a pleasant viewing experience of the World Cup matches and that you will gain a lot from it.
