Ilker Gündoğan: The Politics of Football in China: Institutional Change and Political Steering Under Xi Jinping.Stefan Messingschlager
ASIEN – Nr. 172/173 (2024) pp. 181–83
Since Xi Jinping’s ascent to power in 2012, football has unexpectedly emerged as a prominent component of China’s political landscape. The elevated political attention given to a sport in which China has historically underperformed appears paradoxical at first glance. Yet, as Ilker Gündoğan compellingly demonstrates in his incisive study, this apparent paradox is precisely why football constitutes an ideal analytical lens through which to understand deeper institutional transformations and modes of political steering under Xi Jinping. Football thus becomes a revealing prism reflecting the systematic recentralisation of governance structures – a hallmark of Xi’s leadership style.
