Earlier this week, I read an interview with 21-year-old Chinese footballer, Dong Fangzhuo, who had just returned from a month's training with Manchester United.

Above all else, he wanted to return and play in the English Premiership one day. I only hope he realizes what he is letting himself in for. Let me explain.

Football is and always has been a national obsession in England. I'm not averse to a good football match. I even understand the offside rule (which most men believe is completely beyond the wit of any woman, whether she's interested in understanding it or not.). However, I do not eat sleep and drink football, I don't possess a shirt in the colours of a Premier League team, nor do I own anything with a picture of David Beckham on it.

So when I read some of the websites of the English newspapers this week, I was relieved to be on the other side of the world, away from the bombardment of the English media. If you believe the media, England is consumed by a deep and soul-searching debate about the state of the national sport.

This has been provoked by a number of high profile events and scandals within the sport (including the threatened boycott of the match with Turkey by the entire national team, a drugs scandal and allegations of rape against several Premier League players).

Hundreds of column-inches and minutes on television are being devoted to debating how the sport could have sunk so low; whether young football stars are too irresponsible to handle the vast salaries that they command and the effect that all this is having on society as a whole.

My first reaction was despair - "It's a sport for goodness sake!" My second reaction was relief - all I have to do is not look at the websites. Every time I switch the television on, I am not confronted by an ageing ex-professional footballer giving an in-depth analysis of the situation. It's great!

Footballers in England and throughout Europe live their lives surrounded by this sort of media attention and it's not just focused on their performance on the field. Talented young sportsmen find their personal lives becoming deeply scrutinised.

You only have to look at the kind of celebrity lifestyles that players like Beckham and Owen lead to realise this. I was horrified when I arrived in Shanghai to be greeted by pictures of Beckham everywhere and endless coverage of his exploits.

But I was more horrified when I learned that a career in English Premiership football is what so many young Chinese footballers dream of and aspire to. Do they really realise what they are letting themselves in for? Some like Li Tie and Sun Jihai have achieved this dream. I only hope that they never have to deal with the sort of media obsession that seems to go hand in hand with it.

As for me, I'm off to find someone to explain to me how the offside rule works in rugby. Everyone seems to be just a little less obsessive about the Rugby World Cup.

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