CFA tries to bargain with Camacho

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) will start negotiations this week with the former national team coach, Spaniard JoséAntonio Camacho, who was fired last week after the team suffered a humiliating defeat to Thailand.

The CFA could end up paying a penalty of 7 million euros ($9.13 million) to Camacho and his team for ending his contract early, while the CFA hopes to get away with paying 3 million euros, according to the Fujian-based Straits News Monday.

Javier Ferrero, a lawyer with Senn, Ferrero Asociados Sports & Entertainment, a company specializing in the sports industry which offers advice to famous athletes, was said to have arrived in Beijing on Sunday to represent Camacho in the talks with the CFA, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

The Chinese men's soccer team was beaten 5-1 by a second-string Thai team on June 15, triggering huge criticism.

Ma Dexing, deputy editor of the Changsha-based Titan Sports, told the Global Times that whether the CFA could use the regulations of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to defend itself would become the key to win in the negotiation.

"Europeans will follow a contract strictly, unlike Chinese, who pay more attention to relationships, which makes the CFA vulnerable," said Ma, adding that Camacho's contract did not include a clause linking the team's performance to his remuneration, which laid the foundation for this high payout.

This is not the first time the CFA has suffered financial losses because of needing to payout large sums for breaking contracts with foreign employees.

The Dutch coach for the national youth soccer team, Jan Olde Riekerinik, was removed from his coaching position since last November but will continue to receive his CFA salary until the end of his contract in 2016.

Similarly, Croatian Miroslav Blazevic, who coached the national Olympic soccer team, was paid for six months after being fired in June, 2011.

Wang Dazhao, a senior sports journalist with the People's Daily, told the Global Times that all the flawed contracts with Riekerinik, Blazevic and Camacho were signed by the former leading group of the CFA, "who didn't know a bit about soccer game at all."

"The present leaders are just cleaning up the old mess," noted Wang.

Zhao Jinsheng, an associate professor of sports at Beijing Normal University, believes that the CFA was playing up to the global trend by hiring coaches from Europe, while it might work better if domestic coaches were hired.

However, Ma disagreed with Zhao, pointing out that "unless the whole environment for soccer has changed, no coach can save China's soccer team."

The CFA revealed to the Xinhua News Agency on Monday that Fu Bo, the assistant coach of the national team may act as a temporary replacement for Camacho as head coach.