These measures will further tighten freedom of speech for foreign sportsmen, officials, or sports leagues that earn huge revenues by tapping into the lucrative Chinese market.At the end of a long-awaited revision to the country’s law on sports, the authorities reserved the right to strike back at any country, region or organization involved in global sports that’s perceived as insulting China’s dignity and interests.
So the authorities are betting that they can intimidate sporting interests with Chinese business ambitions to shut down the unfriendly activism altogether. It’s a gamble that should lead athletes, brands and leagues to recognize that their businesses are becoming fundamentally incompatible with China’s political climate.
As Chinese sports fandom has grown, so too has interest in high-quality overseas leagues. China now provides the NBA and England’s Premier League football with some of their largest audiences and most devoted fan bases, despite a dearth of Chinese athletes in both. The Chinese authorities have been willing to tolerate that popularity in part because they aspire to be globally competitive in both sports, and shutting off access to the very best would be counterproductive.
Birds of a feather…