China to open 50,000 football schools by 2025

China plans to open 50,000 football schools by 2025, as part of a long-haul effort to become a world leader in the game, Chinese Ministry of Education said on Wednesday.

The ministry said it wants to fast track a previous goal of opening 20,000 football schools by 2020.

The ministry said it would try to start up with the opening of some of the schools by the end of this year.

“Each school could train on average 1,000 students, eventually creating up to 50 million players.

“This is a solid way to select football talent for our future reserves.

“Improving Chinese football is no longer just a dream,’’ Wang Dengfeng, Vice-President of the China Football Association, said.

The ministry said that China currently has 13,381 football schools.

Growing the game in China has been an ambition of President Xi Jinping, who has listed a series of benchmarks for Chinese football.

This includes qualifying for, hosting and eventually winning the World Cup.

The national team has struggled to make an impact on the international stage and is unlikely to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

However, Chinese clubs have recently made a series of eye-catching and expensive transfers to lure talent such as Axel Witsel, Carlos Tevez and Oscar to the domestic league.