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The Most Popular Football League, Clubs And Players In China Revealed

The Most Popular Football League, Clubs And Players In China Revealed

A look into who does well in Chinese social media is fascinating, with the Premier League leading the way ahead of La Liga.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

The Premier League continues to be the most popular football league in China, according to the stats, despite England's top tier not being shown on TV screens.

There was a dispute in China over the television right to show the Premier League this season, meaning it is not currently being shown over there.

Despite that it remains extremely popular on social media in China. According to the 10th annual social media and digital dominance survey by Mailman, via the South China Morning Post, beat La Liga into second place.

England's top tier had a 50% increase in the number of its clubs using the Chinese language TikTok, Douyin, with 43 million engaging with the Premier League, twice that of the Spanish top tier.

"Football fans in China have shown their loyal and passionate support for Premier League clubs for many years, so we are proud to have won the Red Card award again," league CEO Richard Masters said.

Ronaldo, here with the Supercoppa, has picked up another award. Image: PA Images
Ronaldo, here with the Supercoppa, has picked up another award. Image: PA Images

As well as losing television rights in the far east country, clubs couldn't go on their usual pre season summer tours to China because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It's not a Premier League player who leads the way when it comes to player's popularity, with Cristiano Ronaldo unsurprisingly leading the way.

The Juventus striker is the most followed person on Instagram in the world, beating Ariana Grande and the Rock, and joined video platform Kuaishou this year to get 7.7 million followers in just a month.

The 35-year-old also led the way on Weibo, picking up more than five times the amount of engagement of Neymar.

Accepting his award for being the number one player, Ronaldo said, "Thank you to everyone for this award for the third time. I know how passionate the Chinese fans are about football, and this is a real honour for me. I wish you all my very best and hope to see you soon."

Beckham might not still be playing but was still second on the list. Image: PA Images
Beckham might not still be playing but was still second on the list. Image: PA Images

David Beckham was second on the list for players, Neymar was third and surprisingly Manchester United's Anthony Martial was fourth, ahead of Lionel Messi in fifth.

Barca won the award for being the most followed team, beating rivals Real Madrid and Chelsea into second and third respectively.

The Catalan giants won despite Antoine Griezmann ending his deal with Huawei over the repression of the Uyghurs, whilst Arsenal were 11th despite Mesut Ozil speaking out about China.

Champions League winners Bayern Munich were fourth out of the teams, with Premier League winners Liverpool rounding out the top five.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Football News, Barcelona, CSL, Premier League, Chinese Super League, Cristiano Ronaldo