China has decided not to bid for the right to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups because the game in the nation faces serious problems and playing standards are too low, state media said Tuesday.
The deadline for launching official bids expired early Tuesday Beijing time, with China holding back for several reasons, the Beijing Youth Daily reported, citing an unnamed official with the Chinese Football Association.
"The level of Chinese football is still rather low, and it can't match the kind of level seen at World Cup finals," the official told the paper.
"Cheating, gambling and hooliganism still threaten the environment of the sports in China.... We need to clean up the sports before we can start thinking about hosting an event such as the World Cup."
"We still do not have the qualifications to host the World Cup," the official said.
The sobering Chinese assessment came despite the Beijing Olympics last August being universally applauded for good organisation and preparation of venues.
As late as September 2007, the head of the Chinese Football Association was still saying China was working towards a bid for the 2018 World Cup.
China have qualified for the tournament only once, in 2002, when they were eliminated in the first round after losing all their matches and without scoring a goal.
Sapa-AFP - Worldcupweb.com