Speaker
Description
In the past decade, a massive influx of international coaches in China has been observed. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the factors influencing international football coaches' migration to China. The result provided a comprehensive understanding of how different dimensional factors sculpted coaches' migration by investigating influential factors at institutional, structural, individual, and ideational levels. The qualitative research evidence was produced through semi-structured interviews of 32 international coaches who worked in China across different levels. Consequently, we identified various factors that contributed to coaches' migration. Institutional factors covered the Chinese football strategy, policies, and investment in football. Structural factors stressed the concerns caused by differentials in the football markets between China and the sending countries (e.g., the wages gap and football coaches' overproduction). Factors related to coaches' individuality involved their migration motivation (e.g., occupational, economic, and personal life-related motivation) and the role of the family. Finally, this study evidenced that the cultural and traditional ideas (e.g., the extent of local migration culture), which were conceptualized as ideational factors, could influence coaches' migration desires. The study elaborates that the combined effects of multi-level factors led to the coaches' migration. Structural and ideational factors triggered the initial migration ideas of coaches in the study, and individual factors appeared to consolidate such intention. Then, both the Chinese official and private agencies contributed to the large-scale introduction of football expatriates. This empirical work showcases the mutable, dynamic, and complex relationship between individuals and contexts in facilitating coaches' migrations.
