Earlier this month, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a blueprint for the reform and development of soccer, which many believe could change the face of the game in the country.

The program to reform Chinese soccer is a three-step - short-, medium-and long-term - strategy and is aimed at promoting soccer on campus, building playing fields, better managing professional clubs and lotteries, and overhauling the sport's management system. And its ultimate goal is to enable the Chinese men's team to qualify for the World Cup and Olympic Games.

The record of China's men's team may be poor and the standard of soccer played in the country may not be up to international standards, but the reform program has the potential to cure Chinese soccer of its maladies and give it a new, healthy life.

China chose soccer as the first sport to be developed at the professional level, but two decades of efforts have failed to yield satisfactory results. Measures that have proven effective in other parts of the world have been ineffective in China. In particular, a series of scandals like match fixing and gambling has given Chinese soccer a bad name.

But despite all that, Chinese people's love for the sport has not ebbed. People, especially soccer fans, have urged the authorities to launch sweeping reforms to improve the level of the sport in the country and to build a strong men's national team.

The State Council's ambitious soccer program, if well implemented, can solve the problems facing the sport in the country and help realize the dreams of soccer fans. Besides, the comments of some foreign media outlets will have a positive impact on the reform program. For example, Japan-based Sankei Shimbun cited a British poll to say 7,000 stars like Lionel Messi could emerge across China if the reform was properly implemented.