Two mountains and a port completely outline the essence of the Football Association’s “name change”

When the gourd is pressed, the public opinion in Henan Jianye has just calmed down, and the Football Association's "name change" movement has exploded into a new hot topic of public opinion. The question of whether affiliated companies in Xinjiang and Shandong and the Shanghai seaport are neutral has aroused heated discussions among fans. Although the three incidents have been basically resolved, they still fully exposed the nature of the Football Association's name change.

Let’s first talk about the snow leopards in the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. The reason why it became a hot topic is that Chen Xuyuan, chairman of the Football Association, once promoted the team's name as a template, indicating that Chinese football is "cultured" and clubs should also be able to come up with cultured names.

However, subsequent investigation found that the name Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard was actually problematic because the club had an affiliated company called "Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard Business Hotel Co., Ltd." Many fans believe that this is undoubtedly a slap in Chen Xuyuan's face.

The hotel with the same name is not an investor in the club, but a wholly-owned subsidiary of the club. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with using the name Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard as a model of "neutralization".

What is debatable is the Football Association’s next operation. Since the Football Association stipulates that "associated enterprises" are included in the scope of subsidiaries, although the name Tianshan Snow Leopard can be approved by the Football Association, the hotel must be renamed.

So, what is the problem with this operation? First of all, we must make it clear that the "neutral" name is just a symbol of the team's independent operation. In other words, the club must first become a real market subject before it can meet the conditions for the "neutral" name.

If the club wants to achieve truly independent operations, it must at least achieve a basic balance of revenue and expenditure, which requires the club to make every effort to generate revenue. Opening a hotel is a common method for clubs to generate income.

If you are interested, you can log on to the official websites of some English teams. Then you will find that most of their official websites have links to club-operated hotels. Even the Football Association operates St. George's Park. Owning the hotel business.

For Premier League teams, hotel revenue may be just a drizzle, but for small and medium-sized teams, this is a very important income.

As for whether the names of these hotels are consistent with the team names, there are no hard and fast rules. It is entirely up to the clubs to decide independently according to their business needs.

If Chinese clubs want to operate independently, they also need to expand their business scope. Now, the Football Association has forced Xinjiang clubs to change the names of their hotels, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the club's operations.

It can also be seen from this incident that the name change of the Football Association is just a face-saving project. The purpose is simply to change the name. As long as the name can be changed, as for whether the club can operate independently or even survive, that is The club's own affairs are not under the jurisdiction of the Football Association.

If you have to ask the Football Association a question like "What if the club changes its name and cannot survive?", the answer you get is probably Guo Degang's classic line: "Deserve it! Die!"

Let’s talk about Shandong Luneng. Originally, Luneng did not need to change its name, but the Football Association broke its promise and Luneng was involved in the whirlpool of name change.

However, Luneng fans are not worried. As long as the word "Luneng" is removed and changed back to "Shandong Taishan", it will be a completely acceptable result.

Unexpectedly, this name also got stuck with the Football Association because of a conflict with the name of Shandong Taishan Health Technology Company, an affiliate of Jinan Cultural Tourism Group.

If according to the regulations, it is not wrong if the Football Association fails the review, but in terms of implementation, the Football Association is too dogmatic. The so-called "name neutralization" actually means the elimination of advertising. Simply put, the team must have its own name instead of advertising to investors.

So, will the two words "Taishan" have an advertising effect? Definitely not.

There are many products and companies named after "Taishan" in Shandong. If the relevant companies or products are not specifically mentioned, then most people's understanding of "Taishan" will not go beyond Mount Taishan itself.

Take the related companies involved this time as an example. As long as the team name does not have the words "Taishan Health Technology" in it, then it is estimated that many fans do not know that such a company exists. Therefore, even if the word "Taishan" appears in the name of an associated company, it will not affect the neutrality of "Shandong Taishan".

Some people may say that the effectiveness of advertising is just your own subjective impression and cannot be counted. It is true that advertising effectiveness cannot be based on personal impressions, but this is not without solutions.

As for whether the name is neutral and has advertising effect, the Football Association can hire a professional organization to evaluate it. When UEFA conducts FFP audits, it will also hire professional organizations such as Bafang Sports to conduct fair value assessments of clubs’ commercial contracts to prevent teams from using commercial contracts to inflate their income.

This is called letting professional people do professional things. After all, although the Football Association is the rule maker, it is not professional in many details. Hiring professional institutions and personnel can solve these shortcomings .

However, the Football Association has never faced up to its own shortcomings, and has always had an attitude of "give orders and you just carry them out."

Fortunately, Jinan Cultural Tourism and Taishan Health Technology are both state-owned assets, and can be solved quickly through coordination. If it involves an influential private company, I'm afraid it will be difficult to keep the name "Shandong Taishan". This originally very neutral, very "historical" and very cultural name can only be killed by the neutralization policy of the Football Association.

Although the Football Association has attracted complaints from the majority of fans, there are still some individuals who defend the Football Association: "This is the regulation, why are you just a few clubs being pretentious?"

If If you also hold this view, then you must understand the fact that not all regulations are scientific and reasonable, especially the Chinese Football Association, which is a frequent site for bizarre regulations.

Let’s just say that this time’s regulations on affiliated enterprises are very unscientific. From the original intention, the name change was to achieve the "neutralization" of the team name. As for whether the name is neutral, it has a certain relationship with the affiliated companies, but it is not a complete relationship.

Still taking "Shandong Taishan" as an example. Assuming that the team has no relationship with Taishan Health Technology Company, and after the name "Shandong Taishan" was adopted, Taishan Health Technology Company became the team's jersey advertiser, then the company will undoubtedly obtain double the advertising effect—— Not only are there advertisements on the jerseys, but the team name also promotes them invisibly.

Once this happens, can the team name still be considered neutral? Definitely not. If the Football Association wants to interfere, there are only three ways. One is to ask the team to change its name, the other is to ask the advertiser to change its name, and the third is to forcibly terminate the deal. But no matter which method the Football Association adopts, it will make an international joke.

In essence, Shanghai SIPG changed its name to Shanghai Seaport for the same reason. According to the requirements of related parties, this name is acceptable after being reviewed, but it is not a "neutral" name. I can only say that everyone has a steelyard in their hearts.

Therefore, the relationship between name neutrality and affiliated enterprises is not completely incompatible. In those places where there is no boundary, the Football Association must have a set of careful supporting measures to prevent loopholes and sidesteps, and avoid The club took a detour.

However, the Football Association has only one supporting measure: one size fits all. Under this measure, the Football Association has deviated from its "original intention" of changing the name, and the vigorous "name change" movement has developed into a farce.

In fact, it is not surprising that it turned into a farce. The basic responsibilities of the Football Association are to develop youth training in the country, promote football, and train and manage referees. Everyone knows how well the Football Association does these things.

If you can't even do your own job well, if you do extra work, it will definitely be a mess.

If you use copper as a mirror, you can dress appropriately; if you use history as a mirror, you can know the ups and downs. After the "name change" comes to an end, I hope that the Football Association can also use this movement as a mirror to see how much weight we have, and in the future it is better to put away those foolhardy magical powers.