“Reject it outright, we don't need…”
“The representative from the Chinese Football Association said that if we are willing to support and cooperate, the Jiangnan Group is willing to donate 50 million US dollars in friendly funds to the French Football Association!” said an official from the French Football Association.
“We don’t need it… Reject it blindly, this plan can still be discussed!” McCormick swallowed the half-spoken words and found a new way to say it, showing his capability.
There was no other way, it wasn't that McCormick was too greedy for money, but that the French Football Association was too desperate for money.
France's economic situation had not been good recently, with all sorts of strikes occurring one after another. The young president had to divert a large amount of funds to address livelihood issues, which led to a significant reduction in the funding the Football Association could receive.
Although France had won the World Cup two years prior, the French Football Association had not gained any substantial benefits. Instead, with the star players' worth skyrocketing, the French Football Association had to bear higher costs. In short, the French Football Association was indeed very poor.
If they could receive an additional 50 million US dollars at this time, at least the costs of organizing the youth football league could be subsidized. This would undoubtedly be a great thing for the entire French Football Association.
If McCormick directly refused the cooperation with the Chinese side at this moment, it was estimated that other representatives in the Football Association would tear McCormick apart.
“This matter can be considered, but I’m worried about the individual clubs!” With 50 million US dollars in funds, McCormick was naturally inclined to support the Chinese side participating in the friendly league. Of course, this was not a decision he could make alone; the individual clubs in the youth league also had to agree.
After all, adding another team would not affect the standings, but it would have a significant impact on the form of each team. These teams might not necessarily agree to the requirements of the Chinese Football Association.
Of course, there was a way to get these teams to agree. It would only require taking out 20 million US dollars from the 50 million…
No, about 10 million US dollars would be enough. If it was distributed equally among the lower-tier clubs, each club would receive around 300,000 US dollars. Then they would definitely agree enthusiastically.
After all, by simply playing two to three more matches, they could net 300,000 US dollars. What a good deal!
But thinking about having to take out 10 million US dollars to distribute to the lower-tier teams made McCormick feel exceptionally aggrieved and uncomfortable. He was reluctant to part with this money.
Then he heard his subordinate official continue, “Mr. Chairman, you don’t need to worry about the teams either. Their representatives have stated that the Jiangnan Group will also negotiate with all clubs participating in the youth league.”
“They will require them to play with their maximum strength in the matches to achieve the effect of training players. Therefore, as long as each team can win a match, the Jiangnan Group will reward that team with a fixed bonus of 100,000 US dollars. After that, the goal difference will be calculated, and for every additional goal difference, an extra bonus of 50,000 US dollars will be awarded!”
“This is truly…” McCormick opened his mouth, speechless and shocked by the extravagance of the Chinese.
“Given the level of Chinese football, wouldn’t they earn nearly 400,000 US dollars per match!” McCormick muttered enviously.
Based on his understanding of the Chinese football team, if the players of both sides played with full effort, scoring five or six goals in a match would be easy. Then the Chinese would have to pay over 400,000 US dollars in bonuses per match. This was indeed extremely extravagant.
So, the Jiangnan Group was also known for its extravagance, but McCormick still couldn’t quite understand why the Jiangnan Group was willing to be the scapegoat.
After all, from the entire transaction, it seemed that all the funds came from the Jiangnan Group, and the Chinese Football Association was just a façade for negotiation.
“President, haven’t you noticed that many outstanding youth football coaches in our country have disappeared? For example, Coach Bastèges!” the official whispered.
“Bastèges? The former national team player and Mbappé’s coach, isn’t he in China?” McCormick was surprised. The official was speechless, as Bastèges had disappeared for four years, and McCormick was only finding out now.
“Yes, I have a mutual friend with Bastèges. According to information obtained from him, Bastèges was hired by the Chinese with a high salary four years ago and became a coach at a football training camp founded by the Jiangnan Group!”
“For example, Mr. He Huang, the chairman of Jiangnan Group, who is also the world’s richest man, is a loyal football fan. However, Chinese football has not qualified for the World Cup since 2002, which has made him very dissatisfied. Therefore, he plans to spend a large sum of money to cultivate a new generation of Chinese players who can compete for the World Cup.”
“He has already spent over 10 billion US dollars on this project. And according to the information my friend has gathered, He Huang’s eldest son, the future heir of the entire Jiangnan Group, will also be in this youth training team, although his identity has always been kept secret. No matter how much my friend asked, Bastèges refused to reveal the other party’s identity, as if he had signed a huge confidentiality agreement! Any breach of the secret would incur hundreds of millions of US dollars in compensation.”
“Are you saying that the world’s richest man’s heir is in this youth team?” McCormick was shocked. This was the successor to the world’s richest man! If anything happened, the loss would be calculated in the tens or even hundreds of billions!
Well, actually, McCormick didn’t care whether the world’s richest man’s heir was in this team or not. He wouldn’t get a single cent of benefit from that person anyway.
That evening, McCormick’s wife secretly told him that the wife of a Jiangnan Group representative in France had gifted her a "Liushangqushui Caiwei" ceremonial dress. This was a limited edition of 199 sets worldwide, with an official price of 990,000 Euros. However, a brand new set, regardless of size, was already fetching 1.6 million Euros on the secondary market.
“Can this dress really be sold for 1.6 million Euros so easily?” McCormick was shocked. Seeing his wife nod, McCormick knew what he had to do next.
As expected, McCormick then vigorously promoted this plan. Moreover, because the conditions offered by the Jiangnan Group were indeed very generous, the French Football Association had no objections.
After all, due to financial difficulties, the French Football Association had nominally reduced the salaries of all senior executives by 10% so that they could reduce the salaries of other grassroots staff by 20%.
Now that 50 million US dollars had arrived, could the reduced salaries be paid as scheduled? Therefore, no one opposed this matter, and the Football Association quickly approved it.
As for the local teams, they passed it even faster. They had actually started negotiating with the Jiangnan Group’s staff even earlier than the Football Association, and they were already well aware of the conditions offered by the Jiangnan Group.
In their eyes, this Chinese youth team had become a dungeon, and every time they cleared it, they received a huge treasure chest. It couldn’t be more satisfying.
Who would oppose such a good thing?
Therefore, no one from top to bottom in the French Football Association raised any objections. The matter passed all procedures at the fastest speed, and starting next month, this Chinese youth team could directly participate in the French youth league.
When this news was announced, there was an uproar in France. Most people were very dissatisfied with their Football Association’s decision.
After all, China had been earning a lot of money in recent years, while their country seemed to be in a downward trend. Therefore, under the influence of some well-intentioned individuals, all the blame seemed to fall on China.
Coupled with the recent incident involving the high-energy particle collider, it was only natural for opposing voices to emerge.
In response, the French Football Association immediately initiated consultations with the Jiangnan Group. A few days later, the French Football Association proudly announced that under their strong demands, the Chinese had no choice but to yield and voluntarily give up two high-energy particle collider usage cycles to the French National Center for Scientific Research. This was another great success for French football.
Thus, France was filled with joy, and everyone was very happy. However, the French Football Association was a bit depressed because the price for the two usage cycles was that the donation to the French Football Association was reduced from 50 million US dollars to 40 million US dollars.
It was equivalent to spending 10 million US dollars to purchase two weeks of high-energy particle collider usage rights. This price seemed somewhat unfavorable, but to appease public sentiment, the French Football Association gritted its teeth and agreed.
Then, the Football Association informed the participating clubs in the French youth league to score heavily against the Chinese and recover the lost 10 million US dollars through a large number of goals.
“President, if we play so hard, will these Chinese boys really be trained?” an official asked with some worry.
“What if they are trained? At most, it will help China enter the World Cup. Do you expect them to qualify from the group stage because of this?” McCormick laughed heartily, and the official who spoke also found it somewhat fantastical and joined in the laughter.
However, afterwards, as the Football Associations of the top five European leagues announced new news, McCormick realized that this time the Jiangnan Group had not only cooperated with his own league.
All five major European leagues, namely the Premier League, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, and Serie A, had all reached cooperation agreements with the Jiangnan Group. The Jiangnan Group sent a youth team composed of teenagers aged 10-15 to participate in the local youth league in each country. Five little suns began to rise slowly on this foreign land.