Future reform of Chinese elite sport management system : perspective of sport events

Abstract

The primary intention of this study is to present and evaluate the elite sport management system in China and to predict the trend of future reformation in Chinese elite sport management system. In addition, this study attempts to enhance the understanding to Chinese sport management system.

The literature review plays an important part in the study background of this research, and there are four kinds of theoretical method were used in the research and analysis of this study. The Delphi Method and Gordon Method are used for the group interview and the Creswell Model is a way to collect useful material from the method of literature review. In addition the scale used in sport event spectator questionnaire (N=104) is an application of Likert Scale. Additionally, the observation in China 11th National Games is a complementarity to the research methods.

The national executive-led sport system has played the most important role in China sport for more than fifty years, and the investment from public sector is a huge amount of money and it gets more and more critical comments from social consensus. However, the mass sport, commercialization and professionalization of elite sport remain in a low level compare to the development of competitive sport. The Chinese ‘national character’and ‘cultural icon’ play significant roles in this centralized system.

Based on the results, it can be concluded that the structure of Chinese elite sport system is part of the national administrative system. It will remain stable till the implementation of political restructuring. As a part of China elite sport management system, National Games is difficult to reform since the internal and external social resistance. The social participation has already become an important element in sport management system and its influence will spread in the future. In addition, some of the potential threats such as the downturn of competitive sport have the possibility to block the reform of China elite sport management system and the process of reform will last considerable long time.