Huang Jianxiang

Huang Jianxiang (Simplified: 黄健翔; Pinyin:Huáng Jiànxiáng; January 20, 1968 - ), is one of the best-known soccer commentators in China. He was on the spot world wide because of the World Cup Commentary Incident on June 26, 2006.

Biography

Huang Jianxiang was growing up in a family of soccer fans. His grandfather and his father were two early soccer fans in China.

Huang was married in 1997, to Sun Ying. They have one daughter. Huang divorced in early 2006.

• 1968, born in Inner Mongolia, China.
• 1977, relocated to Nanjing, China
• 1986, graduated from the Middle School Attached to Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
• 1990, graduated from China Foreign Affairs University, received his Bachelor degree in English.
• 1994, joined CCTV Sports Channel (CCTV-5), as a sports commentator.
• 1995, firstly appeared to the public on CCTV-5, associated with Li Weimiao on commentating the Copa América 1995.
• 1996, commentated the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 1996 European Football Championship and the Asian Cup 1996.
• 1998, commentated the Football World Cup in France, the Asian Games in Thailand, and the African Cup of Nations held in West Africa.
• 1999, commentated the FIFA Women's World Cup 1999 in the United States.
• 2000, commentated the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia.
• 2002, commentated the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan.
• 2004, commentated the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
• 2006, commentated the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

The World Cup Commentary Incident

The incident

On June 26, 2006, during the FIFA World Cup match between Italy and Australia, as the on-field commentator of CCTV, Huang Jianxiang unexpectedly shouted his pro-Italian anti-Australian rant while commentating on the last minutes of the match in the live picture broadcasting to an audience of many millions in China. This commentary has been also compared to Bjørge Lillelien's "Your boys took one hell of a beating".

Huang was initially unapologetic for his controversial commentary in the post-game linkup with CCTV. He explicitly stated that he could not be impartial all the time and he did dislike Socceroos because the team reminded him of a lousy New Zealand team which beat China in the World Cup qualifying tournaments in 1981. [1]

Huang's "pro-Italian commentary sparked a barrage of complaints", as well as the "criticisms in the press the following day". His commentary was replaced with another commentator's when the video of this match replayed by CCTV the next day. After reviewing his commentary, Huang eventually apologised the next day on the state-run CCTV for which he's working and posted a letter on its website saying sorry for the injustice and prejudice in his commentary. He did not commentate on the next game. Huang appeared on CCTV's live picture again while he commentating on the Germany vs. Argentina match on 30 June 2006, which denied the rumour that he has been dismissed by CCTV after the incident.

Reactions

Huang's outburst caused an uproar and then sparked a huge debate online and offline in China[2], as well as in Australia[3]. His leader Zhang Bin, the director of CCTV Sports Channel, criticised this incident in four Chinese words: Huang at first lost his voice (失声), then lost his cool (失态) and lost his politeness (失礼), and finally lost his mind (失常).

The people supporting Huang launched several columns and forums online to voice their points of view in public in order to distinctively support Huang to continue his commentating on the subsequent World Cup matches and to prevent CCTV penalizing even dismissing him after the incident. Similarly as Zhang’s criticism, they enumerated their reasons in six brief Chinese sentences at a supportive column hosted by NetEase[4] (translation from this blog):

• although Huang was wrong but his passion was not unforgivable (激情解说, 罪不致死)
• his apology was not unacceptable (知错就改, 应给机会)
• his patriotism was not wrong (拳拳之心, 爱国无罪)
• sports is not politics (这是体育, 不是政治)
• as a devotee of Italian soccer for years, his enthusiasm was not unreasonable (多年意迷, 可以理解)
• at CCTV, Huang is not substitutable (黄在央视, 无可取代)

However, Huang became a subject of gossip in China after the match. His biased commentary was widely re-posted at Chinese news sites, blogs, forums and chat rooms, as well as his recording of the commentary. Moreover, a lot of hilariously imitated variants of his recording also were available on the Chinese websites. Some popular Chinese portal sites, such as NetEase[5] and Sina[6], even set up a column to collect and publish those funny audio and video clips in varied Chinese dialects or for alternative matches.

The commentary

Huang commentating on Italy vs. Australia (The full version, translation from Reuters' report and this blog):

... "Penalty! Penalty! Penalty! Grosso's done it! Grosso's done it! Don't give the Australians any chance."

... "The great Italian left back! He succeeded in the glorious traditions of Italy! Facchetti, Cabrini and Maldini, their souls are infused in him at this moment! Grosso represents the long history and traditions of Italian soccer; he's not fighting alone at this moment! He's not alone!!"

... "Totti, Tottis is facing the spot kick. He is facing the expectations from Italian soccer fans all over the world."

... "Schwarzer has saved two spot kicks in the World Cup qualifying tournaments, both of these were in extra time. Totti should have known this. Will he still be able to face the man in front of him with a smile? How about his expression after 10 seconds?"

... "Goooooal! Game over! Italy win! Beat the Socceroos! They do not fall in front of Hiddink again! Italy the great! Italian left back the great! Happy birthday to Maldini!! Forza Italia!!"

... "He didn't let the Italians down. This penalty kick was an absolute one-off! Absolute one-off! Italy have made the final eight!"

... "The victory belongs to Italy, to Grosso, to Cannavaro, to Zambrotta, to Buffon, to Maldini, to everyone who loves Italian soccer!!"

... "Let them get lost!" (Background voice)

... "The Socceroos might regret, Hiddink! He played too conservatively and too calmly with one more player (than Italy) in the second half, he lost all his courage. Faced with the long history and traditions of Italian soccer, he didn't attack as fiercely as he did in the group matches. He finally reaped fruits which he had sown! They should go home. They don't need to go as far away as Australia as most of them are living in Europe. Farewell!"

Related links

• The video clip of Huang's original commentary from CCTV Sports Channel
• ANSA: Italian team sparks Chinese passion
• BBC: China soccer bias forces apology
• Reuters: Chinese commentator apologises for outburst
• Sydney Morning Herald's Blog: Chinese commentator's anti-Socceroo rant
• Arguments: What kind of commentator do we need? (in Chinese)

Quotes

• "I reckon that I am just the occupation standard", "though no people recognise my standard".
• "I am a human being, not a machine, and I can't be impartial all the time."

Books

Huang Jianxiang published his first book, Teases on Soccer (歪批足球), in 2000. This book reviews various typical soccer matches in China and other countries, including strategies, championship systems, cultures and other aspects involved in activities of soccer.

Huang's second book, To struggle as a man — I am that "soccer narrator" (像男人那样去战斗 — 我就是那个"说球的"), was published in April 2006. This autobiography tells story of his life as a sports commentator since 2000 and gives his candid viewpoints regarding the Chinese soccer and world soccer, as well as several major international sports events he experienced.

External links

• A portrait of Huang Jianxiang on the website of CCTV
• Huang Jianxiang's Blog on the website of CCTV (in Chinese)
• Huang Jianxiang's Book: To struggle as a man — I am that "soccer narrator" (in Chinese)