China football revolution can be a financial game changer

When Chinese investors recently decided to acquire a 13% stake in Manchester City's parent firm, it put the country's renewed interest in football firmly in the spotlight. The world's second largest economy has never been a football powerhouse, qualifying for just one World Cup. Meanwhile, the population seems more interested in NBA basketball than the sport known in the UK as "the people's game". But over the past couple of years Chinese investors and firms have quietly been acquiring stakes in football clubs in England, Spain, France, Netherlands and the Czech Republic, while President Xi Jinping has professed a love of the game. So why are the Chinese now snapping up stakes in European clubs?  sours:bbc