Camacho takes China's soccer authorities to arbitration

Sacked Chinese national team coach Jose Antonio Camacho has decided to take his settlement dispute with the Chinese soccer authorities to arbitration.

The Spaniard has been locked in talks with the Chinese Football Association (CFA) after a humiliating 5-1 home defeat to a second-string Thailand side on June 15 triggered his stepping down.

The two sides, however, failed to reach an agreement that may involve a reportedly nine million U.S. dollars in compensation.

A statement sent to Xinhua on Friday by Javier Ferrero, who represented Camacho in the talks with the CFA, said that "the CFA failed to fulfill the contract and despite our efforts to find a solution, we still could not reach an agreement."

"So we feel deep regret over the situation and according to relevant articles in the contract, we will seek assistance from world football governing body FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport," added the statement.

According to the statement from Ferrero, the CFA informed Camacho on June 21 of its decision to terminate his duty as the head coach but also promised that CFA would fulfill the stipulations in the contract.

It came as no surprise that the former Spain and Real Madrid coach had his stay in China cut short as the Chinese men's national team kept a downhill sliding under his rein, dropping from world number 71 to a history low 109 in March this year with just seven wins and 11 defeats in 20 games.

What angered the general public was the three-year contract signed in August 2011 that states no termination term but an ambiguous request to "bring obvious changes to the national team, including a mature technique style and players' stable performance".

"No national team is willing to pay huge sums of salary without a proper termination term in the contract because there is no such thing as a free lunch," commented national newspaper Renmin Daily. "The Chinese soccer association will have to pay a price for this unfair contract!"

A commentary in Dongfang Sports Daily hit out at wastful spending on big fancy names to coach the national team instead of developing grassroot football.

"We will pay so much for letting the Spanish big name go. Is Chinese soccer so rich? perhaps the answer is 'yes' because the national team is sponsored by millionairs," wrote Ji Yuyang.

"But at the same time, Chinese soccer is so poor. Even with attention from relevant government departments, the budget for promoting campus soccer each year is put at merely 40 million yuan (about 6.5 million U.S. dollars)," he continued.

Chinese real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin and his Wanda Group subsidized in signing Camacho, the seventh foreigner coaching the Chinese team.