The renowned Premier Skills initiative run by the Premier League and the British council returns to Cape Town this week as part of their three-year Premier Skills programme. The programme, which started last Saturday and will conclude this Saturday, is taking place at the Ikamva home of Ajax Cape Town with intensive training for 60 grassroots coaches and 24 referees from all over the province.

The match also represented something else: a case study in the globalization of European soccer, with a decidedly Chinese flavor. Both teams were acquired in 2016 by Chinese investors for a total exceeding $1 billion, a capstone to a flurry of Chinese purchases of European soccer clubs over the past two years. [...] China’s big soccer play is of a piece with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” idea of attaining national greatness

The English Premier League recently signed its biggest deal outside of the U.K. Chinese electronics giant Suning has stumped up £560m for the television rights to broadcast its games to the growing legion of fans there. But it’s not just the size of the agreement that’s eye-catching. It’s a double display of soft power at work: by both China and the U.K.

The 21st century, however, belongs to Football 3.0 (the Asian era). Over the last decade, football has been in the midst of a shift eastwards. Countries including Qatar and states of the United Arab Emirates have built extensive sponsorship portfolios in the West, acquired overseas clubs, and successfully bid to host international tournaments. More recently, China has increased the pace of world football’s ‘Asianisation’.

When Duke head coach Robbie Church found out via email in late March that his team had been invited to Beijing for the seventh annual Consultation on People-to-People Exchange, he was not sure the Blue Devils would be able to participate. [...] But with the opportunity to be the first college women's soccer program involved in the conference—which brings political representatives from both countries together—Church quickly realized the chance was too unique to pass up.

My experiences in Ethiopia have been, in a word, wonderful. I quickly discovered I share a common thread with the majority of the people here:  that of our national pride and a love for the beautiful game of soccer (futbol). I have oft said the game of futbol shrinks the world; it is a common language spoken in just about every corner. This has been no different in Ethiopia.

Held at the African Union headquarters on 19 and 20 May, this is the latest in a series of such seminars as FIFA works to implement a global licensing system, [...] “Through these seminars, we are seeking to extend our club licensing initiatives by sharing best practices with the goal of improving the standards of professional football and developing the game on the African continent. These efforts are at the heart of FIFA’s mission.”

Soccer could provide a vehicle to improve China’s soft power and succeed where previous attempts have struggled. [...] There are two standout advantages soccer has over other mediums of soft power for China. One is football’s global resonance and accessibility. [...]  Another plus is that relative to the arts or education, there is less opportunity for the product to be diminished due to interference from the state as soccer does not actively communicate a message beyond the realm of sport.