China's Village Super League initiates national football tournament

GUIYANG, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Village Super League (VSL), dubbed "Cun Chao" by netizens, initiated a national football tournament on Sunday in Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province.

As of July 20, a total of 798 teams have applied for the tournament, and 297 confirmed their participation. Among them, 30 teams have been selected to feature in the first season of the tournament, which will run until October 28, said the Rongjiang organizing committee.

And the tournament will go on with its second season, the third one and so on with the number of teams to be decided in the coming years, the committee added.

An all-star team from Hong Kong including actor Law Kar-Ying, played the opener of the four matches on Sunday.

"'Cun Chao' made strong influence on China's football atmosphere and I hope through this friendly competition more and more Chinese people will get into football," said Law.

The VSL started on May 13 and concluded on July 29, receiving more than 30 billion clicks during the whole competition. It was hosted by local Rongjiang villagers, with 20 teams all comprising amateurs from local villages. The down-to-earth nature of "Cun Chao" even attracted former England football star Michael Owen, who sent his congratulations via an online video.

County chief Xu Bo said earlier that Rongjiang would host a national football competition after the VSL season.

"People not only in Rongjiang but also in different parts of China want to experience competitions among teams from different parts of the nation," said Xu, adding that such an event was also a good way to boost the love of the whole nation for football.

"In this competition, the spectators can not only enjoy the football matches, but also the various specialties and cultures from across the nation," added Wu Mingfei, a spectator from Rongjiang.