By Andrew Warshaw
January 22 – As the Chinese celebrate their New Year, the year of the horse, so the football federation welcomes a new president who faces a “colossal” task and a race against time to repair the sport’s corruption-tainted image off the pitch and a lack of progress on it.
Cai Zhenhua, China’s vice sports minister who is also a former world table tennis world champion and coach, was speaking after being appointed the new president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA).
Cai replaces 75-year-old Yuan Weimin following the first reshuffle of the CFA executive board in a decade.
“There are so many heavy tasks and time is limited. I just want to say three words: determination, confidence and perseverance,” the Xinhua agency quoted Cai as saying.
“What I am saying is not a slogan. By determination I mean I will put in real efforts to set goals and to bring Chinese soccer back to its right track.”
Football in China is marked by its high levels of bureaucracy, persistent match-fixing issues and in most regions insufficient youth development. The men’s national team has only once qualified for the World Cup.
Cai’s first challenge will be finding a new head coach for that team. China have been without a full-time manager since sacking José Antonio Camacho in June following a string of bad results, including a 5-1 loss to Thailand, and are ranked 92nd by FIFA.
“The stern reality of Chinese soccer forces us to make complete changes,” said Cai. “I am burdened with a colossal task.”
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