Research On The Retirement System Of Chinese Athletes

The active and steady placement of retired athletes concerns not only the athletes’future career and the stability of the minds of athletes, but also the development of sports in China. Following the continuous perfection of China’s socialist market economy system, especially the reform of employment system, cadre and personnel system and social security system, new situation and new problems have cropped up when applying the current system of ex-athletes’ employment. Therefore, it is very urgent to perfect China’s retired athletes’ employment system according to the new situation, the result of theoretical study and the experience of practice.The author divides the evolution of China’s retired athletes’employment system into two periods, i.e., the period of government-directed placement before1986and the period of market-oriented placement after1986. The inner contradictions restricting the evolution and development of the placement system are:the contradiction between the simplification of the system and the diversification of the retirees’requirements; the contradiction between the function of the government and that of the employers; the contradiction between the implementation of the placement system and the difference of the placement conditions in different areas. The external obstruction includes the contradiction between the placement right of the government and that of the enterprises, the contradiction between the demands for placement of the retired athletes and the planned supply, the phenomenon of "government failure" in the resettlement of retired athletes and the effects of government functional transformation on the placement work of the ex-athletes.The author considers that the government-directed placement system has the characteristics of stability, hierarchy and administration. The system decreased the resettlement risk of the ex-athletes to some extent in a specific historical phase and promoted the sustainable development of sports. Market-oriented placement system features operability, diversity and multichannel resources of fund raising. It conforms to the objective law of market economy, accords with the long-term interests of athletes and meets the fundamental requirements of the government functional transformation.At present, the main existing problems of China’s retired athletes’ employment system are:the policy objective is palliative; the economic compensation standard of the retirement is too low; the relative legislation of the retired athletes’ placement system is still lagging behind; attention has not been paid to the employment right of the ordinary retired athletes; the cultural education security of athletes has not been fundamentally implemented; the medical security of the disabled athletes is relatively insufficient. Through intensive study and analysis, the article concludes that the cause for the problems of China’s retired athletes’ employment system lies in the old placement security system, the defective athletes cultivation system, the lagged legal protection of retired athletes’ employment and the imperfection of the mechanism of sports insurance market. Based on the experience of the retired athletes security in some developed countries, the article suggests consummating China’s retired athletes’ employment system by forming the leadership mechanism for concerted efforts, working out preferential policies for athletes’self-choice employment, perfecting the market mechanism of sports insurance, allowing more ex-athletes to continue their school education and improving the legal system of securing the rights and interests of the retired athletes. At the same time, stress should be laid on further implementing the Integration of Sports and Education and planning athletes’ career in a scientific way.